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.

Published in 2008.