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POS 100: Politics and Governance

Department of Political Science Ateneo de Manila

Is Philippines a democratic State?

Procedural Democracy in this sense, political system is democratic to the degree that its most powerful decision-makers are selected through fair, honest and periodic elections in which candidates freely compete for votes and in which virtually all the adult population is eligible to vote (Huntington); elections, universal suffrage; respect for basic liberties

Substantive Democracy in this sense, a political system is democratic to the degree that, beyond fulfilling the minimal, procedural criterion, the peoples will is being effected in the processes of governance, and the declared constitutional and legal purpose and policies are being achieved through the functioning of governmental and political institutions, in relation to democratic norms and expectations; policy performance and outcomes

Democracy is rule of, by and for the people

Who are the people? In what sense should the people rule?

Direct vs. representative democracy

How far should popular rule extend?

Private-public sphere dichotomy Liberal democracy vs. radical democracy

Classical Democracy (Athenian) Protective Democracy (Locke, Bentham, James Mill) Developmental Democracy (Rousseau, J.S. Mill) Peoples Democracy (dictatorship of the proletariat)

Pluralist View wide dispersal of power amongst competing groups


Elitist View elite rule is either desirable, inevitable or contradictory to democracy Corporatist View privileges are given to those who are valuable politically and economically

New Right View democracy in strictly protective terms, essentially as defense against arbitrary government rather than means for social transformation Marxist view democracy as broadening of both political and economic power; highly critical towards liberal democracy because of its natural association with capitalism that is inevitably causing economic inequality

Refers to the transition from authoritarianism to liberal democracy Important features: granting of basic freedom and political rights, establishment of popular and competitive elections and introduction of market reforms Three (3) overlapping processes: 1. old regime breaks down, 2. democratic transition, 3. democratic consolidation

What is the state of democracy and democratization in the Philippines?

How do you sum up the state of Philippine democracy?

Big Picture

state of democracy condition of the State Weak/ flawed institutions and corruption Poverty and underdevelopment Disillusionment and distrust of people

Major National Problems

elite democracy (Bello) cacique democracy (Anderson) less-than-democratic (J. Franco)

democratic deficit (Rocamora/ Hutchcroft)


oligarchic democracy (Hutchcroft; etc.) contested democracy (Quimpo) Democratic rollback (Diamond)

Elite Democracy Features (Bello): 1. Regular elections 2. Elections are dominates by few or several rich families 3. Guns, goons and golds dictate elections 4. Rampant graft and corruption in government Like social status or economic resources, political offices are turned into assets that can be passed to the next kin. Following the Filipino concept of pamana, political power is bequeathed to the heirs of dominant politicians as ipinamanang kapangyarihan. -- Julio Teehankee

Symptoms (Diamond): There are elections, but they are contests between corrupt, clientelistic parties. There are parliaments and local governments, but they do not represent broad constituencies. There are constitutions, but not constitutionalism. Voters and citizens are disillusioned, disenfranchised and indifferent.

A powerful few at the top defending and protecting the truncated procedural democracy;

While forces below (i.e., social movements) posting a challenge by working for the deepening of democracy (Quimpo)

Weak State, Strong Society (Migdal/ McCoy)


Booty Capitalism (Hutchcroft) Predatory State (Diamond)

Control is in the hands of social units/ organizations and not instrumentalities of the State Anarchy of familiesbasic and most critical political unit is the family and not parties Government is captured by the interest of a few and powerful

Basic patterns of interaction between the Philippine state and dominant economic interests Patrimonial state political administration is often treated as a personal affair; practically everything depends explicitly upon personal considerations Philippine state is so lacking in autonomy from dominant economic interests that even the most basic regulation of capital is continuously frustrated. The operations of the state determine the assignment of and the continued enjoyment of economic advantages Underdeveloped rational-legal systems of authority

Political elites restricting political access that enables them to limit economic competition; Ordinary people are not truly citizens but clients of powerful local bosses, who are themselves clients of still more powerful patrons. The purpose of government is not to generate public goods, but to produce private goods for officials, their families and their cronies. Predatory states produce predatory societies: people do not get rich through productive activity and honest risk taking; they get rich by manipulating power and privilege, by stealing from the state, extracting from the weak and shrinking the law.

There are processes and mechanisms for democracy, but they are not achieving their goals for they lack democratic substance and are ill-designed.

Poverty and underdevelopment Weak/ Flawed Institutions and Corruption Disillusionment and distrust

In 2003, outstanding debt has already reached PhP3.2 trillion (US$ 64 billion), equivalent to 90 percent of countrys GDP. Each Filipino is estimated to owe P40,000 (US$700) on a per capita basis. And this state of indebtedness has been on an upward trend since 1981, and is likely to continue for an undetermined time to come. To offset the deficit in revenue collection, need to borrow Php1B a day

Population projected to reach 94.01M by 2010 with 47.26M males and 46.75M females An estimated 4.4million families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past 3 months (Dec 2009, SWS) 46% consider themselves poor (Dec 2009, SWS) 39% (7.1 million Filipinos) consider themselves food-poor 27.6 Million Filipinos live below poverty line In the face of inflation, almost 7 out of 10 Filipinos (66%) say that they are consuming less or spending less on food; 5 out of 10 Filipinos (53%) say they cut down on electric consumption; 3 out of 10 Filipinos (33%) say that they reduced their expenditure on transport, LPG, and fuel. 2 out of 10 Filipinos (22%) with cellular phones have reduced their expenses on cellphoneload.

11 are either working abroad or have decided to emigrate. 1 leaves the country every year to work abroad through employment agencies. 62 are of employable age; 38 of these are employed ; and 7 of these have expressed the desire to have additional work hours. 60 die without seeing a healthcare professional.

Around 9 million Filipinos or 10% of the population with overseas jobs, a key backbone of economic growth (through domestic consumer demand) Total remittances in 2008 were $16.5 billion, a 13.7 increase from 2007

The number of hospitals in the country decreased by 55% over the last 20 years (PMA) 62% of Filipinos die without being seen by a healthcare professional 58.8M Filipinos have no regular access to lifesaving drugs (NSCB 2006)

Out of 100 students who enter Grade 1, 15 will drop out before reaching Grade 2. Another 9 will leave before Grade 4. Only 65will graduate from elementary. 60 of these will begin high school, but only about 42 will get a diploma. 27 of these will begin college, but only about 14 will actually get a degree. 90 out of every 100 elementary students are enrolled in public schools 80 out of every 100 high school students are in public high schools

In terms of the results of the National Achievement Test for S/Y 2007-2008, the national mean percentage score in elementary was 64.8% while it was 49.26% for the secondary (DepEdFact Sheet, Sept 2008) Text book ratio is at 1:2 at best and 1:4 in farflung areas. (Senate Bill # 43)

55-70% of Filipinos in ARMM, Region V, Caraga are impoverished Around 20 families control 80% of wealth. (FOCUS)

Philippines is ranked as the most corrupt country in Asia (PERC, 2007) Php1.2T had been lost due to corruption in the last 5 years

Philippines: partly free country(Freedom House) Human rights endangered (cases of extrajudicial killings of journalists and activists; policies such as CPR, E.O. 462) Overly-powerful presidency undermining check-and-balance Underperforming bureaucracy Weak accountability institutions Flawed electoral and party systems

Guns, goons, golds, goodlooks Election-related violence and fraud Vicious cycle of public office being used to maintain or gain government position Prevalence of patronage politics/ patron-client relationship Vote-buying, enterprising voters Absence of functional political parties Filipinos apathy and distaste for politics Personality-based, not platform-based

The percentage of Filipinos who believe democracy is always the best form of government dropped from 64% to 51% between 2001 and 2005.Asian Barometer Satisfaction with democracy fell from 54% to 39%. The share of the Filipino population willing to reject the option of an authoritarian strong leader declined from 70% to 59%.

McCann Erickson study (2000): Only 10% of the youth are interested in political affairs.
NFO-Trends (2001): 70% of those aged 7-21 had a very low level of trust in our countrys leaders.

63% of the respondents do not know how to sing the national anthem.

Natural tendency of people, especially the youth, to disengage politically Disenfranchised and unregistered voters: 9Million to 14 Million FTVs Registered voters?

10% of the target for FTVs (COMELEC) 15% of the target for OFWs

casting of ballots and often seen disconnected with greater need for and deeper understanding of democratic governance

Disinterested Disempowered People

Poverty Inequality

Weak State; Weak Institutions

Unable to deliver results; plagued by inefficiencies and corruption

We get the government we deserve. All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. E. Burke

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