A key feature of Philippine political life lies in a vibrant civil society animated by forces and institutions enjoying a significant degree of autonomy from the state. This is one aspect of the country's socio-political landscape that differentiates it radically from its neighbours in the region. A complex product of the country's colonial past and the history of political struggles before and after World War II, this extraordinary state of civil society has both constrained and enhanced the terms of engagement in the political arena.

Constituting the most powerful sector of civil society is the traditionally land-based agro-exporting oligarchy, whose most aggressive members would later diversify into the country's highly protected and oligopolized manufacturing sector. By the end of the American colonial era, this oligarchy had succeeded in entrenching itself and legitimizing its economic and political clout through the formal electoral process. What emerged by the end of formal colonial rule in 1946 was a state that was largely a captive of this powerful class of big landlords and what would later develop as the highly protected business sector engaged in import-substituting manufacturing.

Furthermore, the historically weak central government had to share and negotiate power with durable political clans ensconced in various provinces and regions of the archipelago. Unlike in other Asian countries where the local oligarchy was wiped out by the vicissitudes of war, revolution, or the modernizing projects of authoritarian governments, the local oligarchy showed extraordinary resilience and flexibility. They have survived the tumult of post-war revolutionary challenges, the political realignments under martial rule, and the restoration of formal democratic processes.

The churches, with the Catholic Church as preeminent, constitute another enduring layer of civil society. As shown by public opinion surveys, the Philippines counts as among the most religious and devout countries in the world; moreover, the churches in the country generally have received much higher levels of confidence ratings by the public compared with those of the different branches of government and the business sector.