Authoritarian values and institutional trust: Theoretical considerations and evidence from the Philippines

Abstract

Studies on authoritarian values, which have mostly focused on authoritarian regimes and on democracies with spells of authoritarianism, suggest trust in public institutions. However, limited empirical evidence has been carried out in the Philippines where cycles of regime change and authoritarian leadership have characterized its post-authoritarian landscape. Examining multiple public opinion data from the Asian Barometer Survey, this study found that regardless of the political leadership across different regimes, Filipino citizens expressed attitudinal dispositions, i.e. conforming, anti-political pluralism, and support for strong leaders, that constitute authoritarian political values. But instead of a destabilizing effect, estimates from ordinary least squares indicate that Filipino citizens’ authoritarian tendencies enhance institutional trust—seen as an indicator of support for the political system. The findings of this study empirically challenge the view of democratization in the Philippines by foregrounding its ‘populist-authoritarian’ dimension. In addition, they provide evidence of a growing scholarship in comparative political studies that claims that courting confidence for political institutions and regime support does not necessitate a ‘liberal-democratic’ model.