Catholic Church Hegemony Amidst Contestation: Politics and Population Policy in the Philippines

Abstract

This thesis explains how and why the Philippine Catholic Church has successfully established and maintained ideological and political ascendancy most notably after democratization in 1986. Tracing the history of the reproductive health-family planning policy process from Ferdinand Marcos to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, it contends that the Church has built and nurtured enduring ties with state elites and segments of civil society to promote a Catholic dogma-informed family planning agenda despite contestation and regime change.