142 Chasing the Wind: Assessing Philippine Democracy, Second Edition CHAPTER FIVE Elections as an instrument of political control Rene B. Azurin Control of a society – its wealth, its resources, its people – is essentially effected by control of its government. In present days, control of government in so-called “democratic” societies is best achieved through control of the electoral process, that is, the process for choosing and installing a society's leaders. Those who would rule a society, therefore, have to make sure that the electoral apparatus remains rmly within their ability to manipulate and that it can be readily rigged to place into ofce the factotums who will do their bidding. In that way, the agenda and actions of government can always be crafted to promote – and to never endanger – the interests of the ruling elite. Since democracy has become the de facto standard for organizing – and, indeed, dening – the “modern” state, history has been replete with examples of would-be rulers who have successfully rigged electoral contests and taken control of their societies. In this connection, certain names – like Haiti's François Duvalier, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milošević, and, of course, the Philippines' Ferdinand Marcos – readily come to mind but it would be a mistake to believe that election rigging is limited to such world-famous (infamous?) election cheaters. In truth, the practice of election rigging is widespread throughout the world, varying only in the degree of crudeness or subtlety. Even in modern times in such a proclaimed bastion of democracy as the USA, for instance, manipulating the results of elections is resorted to whenever opportunity makes it possible. As a specic example, the 2000 presidential election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore is widely believed to have been rigged in favor of the former. In that particular case, the