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A political system defines the process for making official government decisions (Heslop,
2016). It also determines what particular government a country has. A government is a system or
a group of people that governs the state or a country. According to Aristotle, if sovereignty
resides in one person, it is Monarchy, its perverted form is Tyranny. If sovereignty resides in a
small minority of the population, it is Aristocracy. If this small minority uses the sovereignty for
its own selfish ends, it is Oligarchy. If the sovereign power resides in a large proportion of the
oligarchy or aristocracy (Hartmann, 2014). A political system where people has the power to
choose the representative to govern and entrust the country is called indirect democracy.
constitution, Article II section 1. The origins of democracy in the country started when the
Americans colonized the Philippines in 1898; it planned to grant the self-determination to the
country under the principle of democracy. Filipino worked in the American administration and
quickly come to the concept of self-government. When the commonwealth existed in 1917-1935,
political parties were formed and most of the population was educated unto accepting the
principles of democracy, which meant having a ruling party and opposition. Then the Philippines
developed a constitution named Malolos Constitution. After several constitutions, it was changed
“Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them”.
Article II section 1 provides. Therefore, eligible citizens in the country have the power to choose
their leaders and it needs to have an electoral system. An electoral system is a set of rules that
determine who are worthy of that specific position and it is conducted to determine their
qualities. Political electoral systems are stated in the constitution and electoral laws and typically
The qualification of the voters is stated in the 1987 constitution of the Republic of the
Philippines. Article 5, Section 1, provides: “Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the
Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and who
shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year, and in the place wherein they propose
to vote, for at least six months immediately preceding the election. No literacy, property, or other
There are three branches wherein power is equally divided in the government of the
Philippines: executive, legislative, and judicial. The government has the duty to act in the best
interests of its citizens to regulate balance. The leader of the government holds the title of
president and is in charge of the executive branch. The legislative branch is usually called the
congress. Citizens vote directly to elect the president and also vote to elect local representatives
to the congress. Judges of the judicial branch are appointed by the president and confirmed by
the congress.
The positions have limited terms, election in the Philippines are divided by it.
Presidential elections are held every six years. The last one was held on May 9, 2016. Congress,
Senate, and local elections are held in the years of presidential elections and three years before
An upcoming mid-term election is to be held this May 2019. Politicians and leaders that
are running for a position is on the move and they are doing their best to persuade the people to
vote for them and is willing to invest, may it be physical or financial. The National and Local
Elections in the Philippines were never safe from any issue or problem. Some of these problems
include vote buying, violence, influence of political dynasties, and inefficiency of vote counting
machines and black propaganda (Oliveros, 2013). Voters choose candidates on very different
concern on looking at the basis of how voters exercise their suffrage, the basis on how they vote,
electoral activities, including participation in electoral campaigns, turnout at the polls, and voting
preference is choosing for whom to vote (Bratton, 2013). This study will be in touch with both
the analysis of the behavior and preference of the first time voters.
Every election, the voter’s preference varies depending on various factors. To support
this statement, the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform of the Philippines (IPER) in their
1995 study, the main determinants of the Filipino vote, in respective ranks are; popularity,
endorsement, benefit to voters, and party program or platform. Meanwhile, on their 2003 study,
the IPER presented a significantly different determining factors of the Filipino vote, these are
now; the benefit factor, party program or platform, popularity and endorsement, respectively
(IPER, 2004). These would present that there is a significant shift of the frame of the Filipino
In line with this, the paper aims to examine the voting behavior and preferences of first
time voters in Barangay Libertad, Butuan City. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following
questions:
2. What is/are the preference(s) of the first time voters in choosing political candidates?
f. Religious Affiliation
g. Family choice/affinity
socioeconomic status?
The theory of downs (1957) named Rational choice theory implies that every individual
has a rational side which is capable of making consistent choices (Downs 1957). It is very
extensive and does not limit to economics (Ole 2013). Since an area of this theory is often
It is assumed that actors are rational at least to the extent that they make choices that will
maximize their utility. In other words, before making a choice they consider the gained benefit of
the choice (Elster 2007). An individual focuses on the outcome. A rational individual will choose
the preference that yields the highest utility. So as in voting, a voter prefers a candidate that
Voting is of societal gain. Because of this the actor must be able to distinguish the given
utility between the preferences at least to the degree that he prefers the first to the second, prefers
the second to the first, or is indifferent between them (Elster 2007). Meaning to say, upon
making a decision on who to vote, a voter should be capable to make a distinction between the
their benefits. Furthermore, it elicits the idea of voting behavior which the study aims to
determine together with the preferences of the first time voters. With all of these, the researcher
come up with a study focusing on the voting behavior and preferences of the first time voters in
Butuan City.
Respondents’
Socioeconomic
status
The study will be needing respondents that fall in the category of first time voters. In line
with this, the researchers will be using random sampling which is a type of a probability
sampling technique. A simple random sampling is defined as one in which each elements of the
population have an equal and independent chance of being selected, and a descriptive design
with correlation method since this describes the voting behavior and preferences of the first time
relationship between respondents’ socioeconomic status and voter’s preferences. The study is to
be conducted in Barangay Libertad, Butuan City. The primary sources of data are the
information gathered from the selected locale is through answering the survey questionnaire. A
total of 117 respondents calculated using 8% margin of error and 92% confidence level. The
respondents’ availability, accessibility and of consent are needed to continue the study.
Barangay Libertad
The study considered the requirements of a good data collection. The researcher designed
a survey questionnaire as one of the data collection instrument for this study. It aims to obtain a
clear and valid response eliciting relevant information concerning the voting behavior and
A proper consent and formality is a must in gathering data so an approval inside the
selected research locale is needed. After the letter will be permitted, the questionnaires will be
administered directly to the chosen sample. The researchers will be using the respondents’ vacant
time to avoid conflict. The respondents’ will be given enough time to fill up the questionnaire.
Respondents describing their profile and preferences as regards the qualities of the candidates.
Analysis of Variance and/or t-Test for Independent Samples. Inferential statistics such as random
sampling of data taken from a population to describe and make inferences about the population.
The performance distribution will be used to analyze the problem of certain individuals,
regarding the profile of the respondents and the perception of the qualities of the candidates. The
perception of the first time voters as regards the qualities of the candidates is measured using the