About the Author
Dette Pascual is the chairperson and founder of the National Women’s Movement for the Nurturance of Democracy in the Philippines (KABATID). Mrs. Pascual, a specialist in human resource development, is the Executive Director of the Evelio B. Javier Foundation. She has also served as Executive Director for External Affairs of the Philippine National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL). During 1985-86, she was the Washington, D.C. correspondent of Veritas, a leading newsmagazine of the Philippine “alternative press.” Her article is based on a paper presented at a conference on “Political Culture and Democracy in Developing Countries” at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.