National Democracy (ND) (Filipino:Pambansang Demokrasya) or theNational Democratic Left, known colloquially asNatDem, is apolitical ideology andmovement in thePhilippines that aims to establish apeople's democracy in the country. With theCommunist Party of the Philippines as thevanguard party, the movement seeks to address what it deems to be the "root causes ofsocial injustices affecting the Filipino masses" in what is analyzed to be a "semi-colonial and semi-feudal society", by confronting the "three fundamental problems" ofimperialism,feudalism, and "bureaucratcapitalism".^[1][2][3]

The national democratic movement has its origins in opposition to former presidentFerdinand Marcos during the late 1960s and early 1970s, but in its entirety is interpreted by the ND as a continuation of struggles since the 1896Philippine Revolution led by theKatipunan.^[4] As a result of sustained economic, political, and military abuses during the Marcosdictatorship, several figures such asJose Maria Sison (writing under the eponym Amado Guerrero) proposed that the creation of a revolutionarymass movement of a national democratic character was necessary to overcome the "three basic problems" underpinning the oppressive conditions of Philippine society in the 1970s. Sison's vision usesMaoist principles for social analysis and in carrying outpeople's democracy or national democracy:^[5]

Under the present concrete conditions of Philippine society which are semi-colonial and semi-feudal, theCommunist Party has to wage a national democratic revolution of a new type, a people's democratic revolution. Though its leadership is proletarian, the Philippine Revolution is not yet a proletarian-socialist revolution. We should not confuse the national-democratic stage and the socialist stage of the Philippine Revolution. Only after the national-democratic stage has been completed can the proletarian revolutionary leadership carry out the socialist revolution as the transitional stage towardscommunism.—Philippine Society and Revolution p.78^[6]

Oncemartial law was lifted in 1981 andCorazon Aquino was elected to thePresidency in 1986 after thePeople Power Revolution,corruption andabuse of government power remained endemic in the Philippine political system, which according to the ND were exemplified by theMendiola massacre, the counter-insurgency programs waged against the armed groups of theMoro Islamic Liberation Front and theNew People's Army, embezzlement and graft during the terms ofJoseph Estrada andGloria Macapagal Arroyo, and the2004 Hacienda Luisita massacre. According to the analysis espoused since the 1970s by Sison and others, the continuation ofhuman rights violations in the Philippines at the hands of government officials and other social, economic, and political injustices highlight the need of liberating the nation the imperialist forces—primarily led, from what ND proponents identifies, theUnited States. As a former U.S. colony, the Philippines' dynamic with the United States dates back to thePhilippine–American War.

The national democratic movement is divided into underground and legal groups.^[7] TheNational Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) is the underground, revolutionary coalition of various national democratic groups that comprise organizations such as theCommunist Party of the Philippines,New People's Army,Kabataang Makabayan, and Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA)^[8][9]

The legal groups are collectively known asnational democratic mass organizations. Most of these groups participate in the country's national elections and are not part of theon-going armed struggle. The national democratic movement of the Philippines is also interwoven with a larger global alliance: the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), in which Joma Sison served as its founder and chairman emeritus.^[10]