From the author’s first-hand account of the battle for democracy in the Philippines comes The Contested State, an inquiry into the international causes and consequences of regime change. Regime change tends to occur in waves, from the authoritarian transitions of the 1930s, to the democratic transitions of the late 1980s and 1990s, to the rise of authoritarianism again today. But why? To help answer this increasingly urgent question, the author examines a series of regime transitions in the Philippines over time. The book identifies structural inequality as a root cause of civil conflict, which can in turn lead to proxy wars, as transnational revolutionary, authoritarian, and democratic forces vie for control of the state. Tracing the battle for control of the Philippines back to the Spanish era through the US era and beyond, The Contested State presents a historical, transnational picture of regime change through time, offering insights into the broader transnational issues threatening democracy today.