Philippine Electoral and Party System
Being copied from the United States of America’s advanced democratic system, our political
institutions are as modern as they could possibly be. But, like almost all our borrowed
institutions, our political system can only perform to the extent permitted by our society’s
hierarchal structure. And aside from being highly hierarchal, our society’s basic structure is also
still segmented into families and tribalistic communities.
The sad reality of our time is that the prevailing social conditions of Philippine society cannot
sustain the operation of its modern institutions. The evidence for this is all around us.
Membership in our political parties means almost nothing. Our politicians feel neither shame nor
awkwardness as they merrily move from one political party to another, depending on who is in
power.
We are dealing with the same issues that beset our politics for a long time. The most glaring of
these is the mass poverty that afflicts our people. Poverty made them seek the patronage of those
politicians who have access to public services like healthcare, educational assistance, and
housing. So long as elected politicians can claim a position in deciding who gets access to these
services, so long will the masses see elections primarily as a quest for personal gain and
connections rather than as a contest of political visions.
Though we may think of this as perverse, there is actually some rationality behind this. We may
think that the Filipino voters support the likes of Lito Lapid out of ignorance, but many vote for
such candidates because they see them as approachable and compassionate protectors of the
poor, so different from the ones with a pretense to competence but keep their distance from the
plight of the people.
A modern political system cannot thrive in such environment. This is clearly a part of our
society’s transition to modernity. It is a process that can be completed only when the majority of
our people achieve enough economic security to make them take their political rights seriously.
Being copied from the United States of America’s advanced democratic system, our political
institutions are as modern as they could possibly be. But, like almost all our borrowed
institutions, our political system can only perform to the extent permitted by our society’s
hierarchal structure. And aside from being highly hierarchal, our society’s basic structure is also
still segmented into families and tribalistic communities.
The sad reality of our time is that the prevailing social conditions of Philippine society cannot
sustain the operation of its modern institutions. The evidence for this is all around us.
Membership in our political parties means almost nothing. Our politicians feel neither shame nor
awkwardness as they merrily move from one political party to another, depending on who is in
power.
We are dealing with the same issues that beset our politics for a long time. The most glaring of
these is the mass poverty that afflicts our people. Poverty made them seek the patronage of those
politicians who have access to public services like healthcare, educational assistance, and
housing. So long as elected politicians can claim a position in deciding who gets access to these
services, so long will the masses see elections primarily as a quest for personal gain and
connections rather than as a contest of political visions.
Though we may think of this as perverse, there is actually some rationality behind this. We may
think that the Filipino voters support the likes of Lito Lapid out of ignorance, but many vote for
such candidates because they see them as approachable and compassionate protectors of the
poor, so different from the ones with a pretense to competence but keep their distance from the
plight of the people.
A modern political system cannot thrive in such environment. This is clearly a part of our
society’s transition to modernity. It is a process that can be completed only when the majority of
our people achieve enough economic security to make them take their political rights seriously.
