Strongman: The Extraordinary Leaders of India and the Philippines
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231166184 |
| Author | Arild Engelsen Ruud |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
Strongman: The Extraordinary
Leaders of India and the Philippines
Arild Engelsen Ruud1
Abstract
Both Narendra Modi and Rodrigo Duterte stand out as leaders that epitomise their respective reigns
in ways that previous leaders did not. A juxtaposition of their political personae allows us to investigate
a contemporary political phenomenon, that of the elected strongman leader. This article makes three
points from this juxtaposition: (a) They presided over a period of ‘democratic backsliding’. (b) They
came with social media. (c) They are their own message and that message is that they are extraordinary
leaders, above ordinary constraints. This article concludes that they represent strongman politics—
where they as their people’s representative engage in acts symbolic of the people’s sovereignty. In an
age of discontent with democracy, new and social media have allowed them to portray themselves as
true defenders of ‘the people’.
Keywords
Indian democracy, Philippines, social media, strongman
Introduction
Narendra Modi was elected prime minister in India in 2014 and Rodrigo Duterte was elected president
in the Philippines two years later. Their respective election results were solid, with Modi gaining 31% of
the national vote and Duterte 39%. In the subsequent election, the tally improved further. In India, Modi
and Bharatiya Janata Party gained an increase both in terms of representatives in the Lok Sabha and in
terms of popular support (37%). In the Philippines, the constitution barred Duterte from re-election but
the winner, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., was seen as his heir (Heydarian, 2022; Ruud & Endresen,
2022) and won a resounding victory of 58%. Marcos’s running mate and vice-presidential candidate was
Sara Duterte, the outgoing president’s daughter. Her tally in the vote (the vice-president is elected on a
separate ballot) was even higher with 61%. Duterte himself, on leaving office, enjoyed a record-breaking
87% approval among the Filipino electorate (Manila Times, 2022).
Original Article
Studies in Indian Politics
11(1) 27–38, 2023
© 2023 Lokniti, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies
Article reuse guidelines:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/23210230231166184
journals.sagepub.com/home/inp
1 University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Corresponding author:
Arild Engelsen Ruud, University of Oslo, Oslo N-0315, Norway.
E-mail: a.e.ruud@ikos.uio.no
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