User:Chieharumachi/sandbox/Characteristics

Marcos began his political career in 1949 - just four years after the second world war, and four years after the United States' formal recognition of Philippine independence in 1946 marked the end of foreign administration over the Philippines. Marcos' rise to power thus occurred within the context of the Philippines' postwar reconstruction, the beginnings of the cold war between Eastern Bloc and Western Bloc countries, and the rise of Nationalism in "third world countries", particularly in Southeast Asia.(Kasaysayan).

Clientelism

Ferdinand Marcos developed a cult of personality as a way of remaining President of the Philippines for 21 years, drawing comparisons to other authoritarian leaders such as Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler, but also to more contemporary dictators such as Sukarno in Indonesia,  Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the Kim dynasty of North Korea.

The propaganda techniques used, either by himself or by others, to mythologize Ferdinand Marcos, begin with local political machinations in Ilocos Norte while Ferdinand was still the young son of politician Mariano Marcos, and persist today in the efforts to revise the way Marcos is portrayed in Philippine history.

These propaganda narratives and techniques include: using red scare tactics such as red-tagging to portray activists as communists and to aggrandize the threat represented by the Communist Party of the Philippines;  using martial law to take control of mass media and silence criticism; the use of foreign-funded government development projects and construction projects as propaganda tools; creating an entire propaganda framework around a “new society” in which he would rule under a system of “constitutional authoritarianism”;   the perpetuation of hagiographical books and films;  the perpetuation of propaganda narratives about Marcos’ activities during World War II, which have since been proven false by historical documents;  the creation of myths and stories around himself and his family;  and  portrayals of himself in coinage and even a Mount Rushmore type monument; among others."

After Ferdinand Marcos’ death, propaganda efforts have been made to whitewash his place in Philippine history, an act of historical negationism commonly referred to using the more popular term “historical revisionism.”