CHANGELESSNESS OR THE RECURRENCE OF OLD PATTERNS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON THEME IN STUDIES OF PHILIPPINE POLITICS SINCE THE FALL OF THE MARCOS DICTATORSHIP IN 1986. MANY POLITICAL SCIENTISTS HAVE CHARACTERIZED THE COUNTRY'S POST-MARCOS POLITICS AS MERELY BEING A RETURN TO THE "ELITE" OR "OLIGARCHIC" DEMOCRACY OF THE PRE-AUTHORITARIAN ERA, ALL HIGHLIGHTING THE CONTINUING HOLD ON ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWER BY AN OLIGARCHIC ELITE. HAS NOTHING REALLY CHANGED IN PHILIPPINE POLITICS? ARE THERE REALISTIC PROSPECTS FOR SUBSTANTIVE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE YERAS AHEAD? THIS BOOK PUTS TOGETHER ARTICLES THAT EXPLORE THESE QUESTIONS FROM A MULTIPLICITY OF ANGLES, INCLUDING THE NATURE OF THE POLITICAL REGIME;DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION; ELECTIONS AND ELECTORAL REFORM; THE REFORM OF OTHER POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS; REFORM EFFORTS OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND STATE ACTORS; MASS MEDIA, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND REFORM; CLASSES AND POLITICAL CHANGE; AND NATIONAL-LOCAL DYNAMICS. AMONG THE DISTINCTIVE CONCEPTS AND TOPICS DISCUSSED ARE: PATRONAGE-BASED STATE FORMATION; CYCLES OF POPULISM, CLIENTELISM AND REFORMISM; PREDATORY REGIME; REFORM CONSTITUENCY; COMMAND AND MARKET VOTES; MIDDLE CLASS CIVIL SOCIETY, ACTIVIST TECHNOCRATS; AND SOCIAL ORDER MAKING.