The change of elite structure and the state in the Philippines: new business elite in the 1950s

The definition of 'state autonomy' is that a state may formulate and pursue goals that are not simply reflective of the demands or interests of dominant social groups. In the Philippines, after independence, the presidents and the State officials decided to take up import substitution industrialization policy (ISI), in spite of the resistance of politically weighty landowners. As a consequence of this, new business elites not only emerged - they also established an economic policy with landowners interested in agricultural export. In short, new business elites appeared and the elite structure changed, as a result of greater state autonomy after the war.