34 Chasing the Wind: Assessing Philippine Democracy, Second Edition of critical thinking at all times, distinguishing between comforting illusions and oft-disconcerting realities is most imperative. In considering the intellectually and equally emotionally difcult issue of whether there is – or there has been – democracy in the Philippines, one may remember the great social crusader who spoke of having a dream. He was eminently successful in galvanizing people towards ultimately liberating, democratizing action, all because he and his dedicated followers did not have illusions about the nightmare they rst had to survive and then to overcome. _______________ END NOTES 1 There are a few interes ng excep ons to the academics' popular neglect of the human development perspec ve in defining democracy; its explicit iden fica on as a core concern and its integra on into the meaning of democracy is found in Wetzel (2002), O'Donnell (2004), Sen (2004and 2009) and where having a "poli cal voice” is equated with democra c governance, also in S glitz, et al. (2010: 78-80). Similarly, Munck (2009:126-127), despite some hesita on in trea ng "outcomes of the poli cal process" as an integral concern of democracy, relents and conceptually situates human development in democracy's cons tuent idea of poli cal equality. As argued by the proponents of the concept of human development and the capabili es approach such as Amartya Sen (1999 [Development as Freedom]) and Martha Nussbaum (2000 [Woman and Human Development: The Capabili es Approach]), a lack of material resources that are indispensable for an adequate standard of living, access to health, and access to educa on, is associated with a reduc on of human capabili es. And the differen al a ainment of human capabili es necessarily has ramifica ons for the poli cal process and, specifically, for the exercise of civil and poli cal rights…. Thus, to avoid a strictly legalis c and overly formal concep on of what is entailed by an equal opportunity to par cipate in the poli cal process, what might be tenta vely phrased as the a ainment of social integra on should be included as a defining feature of democracy. 2 The cita on was made precisely to suggest the wide range of popular meanings for the concept democracy. In a Philippine se ng, however, there is another reason for the cita on. Heywood's volume is the University of the Philippines' primary textbook in introductory poli cal science and being the country's most pres gious ter ary ins tu on -- the premier state university no less -- other colleges and universi es are likely to adopt it for their own students. Consequently, the founda on knowledge of technical poli cal science and prac cal poli cs among the country's professors and students can be greatly influenced by Heywood's text. The present and the next genera on of educated Filipinos may well understand the meaning of democracy as Heywood construes it, i.e. a mostly liberal democra c regime, with a strong emphasis on compe ve elec ons or formal poli cal contesta on as democracy's defini ve sine qua non. This orienta on does not make it impera ve for a regime to be democra c that it also links with and clearly serves human development ends, the primary thesis of the present paper.