200 Chasing the Wind: Assessing Philippine Democracy About the Authors Felipe B. Miranda is an emeritus professor at the University of the Philippines and former chair of its Department of Political Science. He was a past president of the Philippine Political Science Association and the founding vice-president of Social Weather Stations (SWS). Later, he became the founding president of Pulse Asia, Inc. He is a keen student of politics and feels equally comfortable vigorously chasing it on the streets, leisurely exploring it in the university's classrooms, or willfully unmasking it in the nation's darkest corridors of power. For the better part of five decades, this intimate exposure to his object of fascination has convinced him of one thing: that where politics is the problem, it, too, must nurture the solution. Temario C. Rivera was formerly a professor and chair of the U.P. Department of Political Science and currently teaches at the International Christian University of Tokyo as a professor of comparative politics and international relations. He has been editor-in-chief of the Philippine Political Science Journal since 1993 and has authored several publications on the politics of democratization, the middle classes, the political economy of development, and Philippines-Japan relations. He works with various civil society groups and peoples' movements through his position as vice-chair of the Center for Peoples' Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG). He was educated at the University of the Philippines (A.B.; M.A.) and the University of WisconsinMadison (Ph.D.). Malaya C. Ronas is a professor at the U.P. Department of Political Science. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from U.P. and a second master's degree from the Fletcher School, Tufts University. He served as chair of the U.P. Department of Political Science for two terms and was a former president of the Philippine Political Science Association. He has published articles and book chapters on the ASEAN and regional cooperation, Philippine foreign relations, and Philippine politics. Ronald D. Holmes has been with the faculty of political science of De La Salle University (DLSU) Manila for close to three decades, teaching courses on comparative politics and research methods. He served as president of the Philippine Political Science Association for three terms and chair of the Philippine Social Science Council for two terms. At present, he is president and managing fellow of Pulse Asia, Inc. He has worked in non-governmental organizations and served as a fellow or consultant of other academic consortia including international intergovernmental organizations. He is committed to working for substantive changes within and beyond mainstream political institutions.