Nationalism and the Strong State in the 1935 Philippine Constitution

Abstract

A strong executive branch and nationality-requirements on specific areas of the economy are two ideas contained in provisions of the Philippine Constitution of 1935 that have been carried over into the country’s subsequent charters. Using the record of debates during the convention, this article traces the inspiration for these provisions to prevailing intellectual and historical trends. In particular, the rise of socialist and fascist states in Europe and Latin America, as well as the post-Depression New Deal in the US was apprehended by the delegates as clear signs that the tide was turning against the laissez-faire ideology of liberal-capitalism. At the same time the strong-state idea was congenial to the delegates’ concern to reserve to the government areas of patrimony that Filipino capital of the time was incapable of exploiting on their own.

JEL classification: K10, N45