Evangelical and Pentecostal churches have grown worldwide in the last decades. In the Philippines, this growth has not resulted in a decrease of the Catholic faithful, but in a Pentecostalization of Philippine Protestant Churches and the Philippine Catholic Church as well. In terms of numbers, the Catholic Charismatic movement is by far outnumbering the adherents of Evangelical and Pentecostal churches. This book explores the surge of Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity using data from a nationwide survey with interviews and observations among Pentecostal churches and Catholic Charismatic groups. The authors question common perceptions of Charismatic Christians as under-privileged masses and depict the Charismatic success as a genuinely religious phenomenon, which nevertheless might have political repercussions. They transfer the concept of political populism to the religious sphere and explain the attractiveness and the ambivalences of Charismatic religion with the properties of populism. The potential political ramifications of the Charismatic success are ambiguous; it has the potential to strengthen the legitimacy of democratic institutions in the Philippines as well as the potential to foster theocratic attitudes.

Christl Kessler (1967) has studied political science, sociology and psychology at the Free University of Berlin and received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany. She is currently senior research fellow at the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute for socio-cultural research, Freiburg. Her research interests include political relevance of religion, democratization, migration, gender and sustainable development. Jürgen Rüland (1953) studied political science, history and German literature at the University of Freiburg from where he also received a Ph.D. in political science. Before joining the University of Freiburg as a professor of political science, he taught at the University of Passau, the University of Rostock as well as various universities in Southeast Asia. His research interests include international relations and democratization in Southeast Asia.

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