Gabriel L. Kaplan and U.S. Involvement in Philippine Electoral Democracy: A Tale of Two Democracies

Abstract

Asking why Gabriel L. Kaplan, a New York Republican politician-turned CIA agent, could have been so successfully involved in Philippine politics in the 1950s, this article explores colonial/postcolonial encounters between electoral democracies in the United States and the Philippines. Emphasis is laid not only on similarities between the two countries in terms of their election laws, but also on progressive notions that are si- multaneously introduced in the United States and the Philippines in the hope of cutting off relationships between political bosses anh the elector- ate via the secret ballot. The article also deals w'th a pattern of colonial/ postcolonial American oficials' reliance on "emerging new elites" and criticism of "traditional political elites."