HUM 001: Understanding the Self USI Vincentian Learning Module

LESSON 7: POLITICAL SELF AND DIGITAL SELF

Overview

In this module, we shall be looking into the components of the political self. What
are the aspects that make us “political animals” as Aristotle puts it. Politics is part
and parcel of our existence and we cannot do away with it. Hence, it is important to
pay attention to this particular aspect.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, you will:

1. Develop a Filipino identity;

2. Identify different values and traits;
3. Reflect on your selfhood in relation to your national identity;
4. Identify pertinent ideas regarding our self-presentation in the online realm;
5. Compare real identity versus online identity;
6. Discuss the proper way of demonstrating values and attitudes online.

Learning Content

I. POLITICAL SELF
Politics Defined
Politics is the art or science of government; the art or science concerned with
guiding or influencing governmental policy and the art or science concerned with
winning and holding control over a government. (https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/politics)

Factors that Shape Politics:

Levels of Analysis:

1. Individual (Attitudes and Values)

Presence of dualism

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o Highlights the contradiction between self-interest and the good of

the community
o Positive and negative reinforcers
Attitudes change
o Due to events that sweep the nation
o Due to involvement in service-oriented activities

2. Institutional

o Family
Children are taught the basic human values of honesty, love, discipline and respect
for others but notions of community are confined to the family and the concept of
public good tends to be left out of family values. Authoritarian practices may impede
independent thought. Primordial nature of kinship affiliation in the Philippines hampers
the development of a sense of community and the public good
o School
Has the role to teach nationhood and its associated values

o Church
Periodically issues pastoral letters which deal with social realities as discerned
in the context of the gospel

o Media
Positive and negative portrayals of citizenship. Provides venues for the
discussion of issues and exposing anomalies in the conduct of public affairs.

o Government
Prescribes official programs such as the curriculum in state-run elementary
and high schools. Provides frameworks and the environment for the exercise of
rights and the fulfillment of social obligations

o Non-government and people’s organizations

Utilize non-formal venues of expression and decision-making that
influence policy makers in both the government and the private sector. Engage
in value-formation in their leadership training, seminars on gender sensitivity
and others

3. Community
The degree (or lack) of identification with the nation depends, among others,
on the type of community to which one belongs and the extent to which it is
served by, or benefits from, instruments of the state

• Religion (“Filipino” connotes “Christian”)

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• Language (i.e., use of English) as the privileged medium of official and

private transactions
• Absence or presence of social requisites for the exercise of citizenship and
democracy

WHO IS A FILIPINO?

Technically, according to the 1987 Constitution, Filipino citizens are “…those

whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines, those born before
January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Filipino citizenship upon
reaching the age of majority, and those who are naturalized according to the
law.”

FILIPINO VALUES AND TRAITS FILIPINO MARKERS

Filipino hospitality Proverbs or salawikain

Respect for elders Superstitions

Close family ties Myths and legends

Cheerful personality Heroes and icons

Self-sacrifice

Bayanihan

Bahala na attitude

Colonial mentality

Manana habit

Ningas kugon

Pride

Crab mentality

Filipino time

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What is Democracy?
Democracy is a socio-political theory which essentially means as the rule of the people.
Aristotle claims that democracy as a deviated form of polity is less evil. He avers that
democracy is the most tolerable of the three deviations of proper rule arguing that the
best rule is royalty or monarchy, that is the rule of king and queen. Aristotle’s discreet
estimation of democracy has in some semblance with Socrates who in a way detests
democracy as a viable form of government.

“Philippines’ Incomplete Revolution: Elite Democracy and

Autocratic Nostalgia”
By Richard Javad Heydarian
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” George Santayana once
famously said. A country with no sense of history has no future, because it is the
remembrance of the past successes and failures, which undergirds a collective sense of
purpose and provides a roadmap for nation-building.
Three decades after its world-historical 1986 “People Power” uprising, which inspired non-
violent revolution across the world, the Philippines is still struggling to anchor itself on
unifying narrative of nation-building. The Southeast Asian country is still searching for its
place in history. Nothing symbolizes the Philippines’ confused state of mind better than the
fate of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).
As far as its historical relevance is concerned, it is perhaps comparable to Bastille (and its
place in the French Revolution), Azadi Square (for the Iranian Revolution), the Tahrir Square
(for the Egyptian Uprising against Mubarak), and Tiananmen Square (and its place for China
1989 student uprising). The EDSA served as the main theater of popular uprising against
most memorably, Marcos as well as subsequent governments, particularly the disgraced
President Joseph Estrada, who had to step down in 2001 after massive outcry over allegations
of corruption and abuse of power.
Today, EDSA is synonymous with traffic jam and urban mayhem - a poignant reminder of the
failures of post-Marcos administrators in providing even the basic services to the citizenry. As
Filipino historian Vicente Rafael puts it, “The memory of People Power is daily dissolved by
the reality of masses rushing in disaffection, absorbed in their alienation.”
Without a doubt, EDSA brought about elements of formal democracy, with constitutional
guarantees of civil liberties and political rights. The 1987 Constitution, deliberately framed an
anti-Marcosian document, has employed all kinds of institutional constraints to guard against
executive tyranny.

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Today, the Philippines has among the most rambunctious media while ordinary citizens
relish discursive freedom unmatched by any country in the region.
Along with Indonesia, the Philippines is the only liberal democracy in the whole
Southeast Asian region. Yet, the post-EDSA leadership has overseen a decentralization
of corruption instead of ushering in accountability and transparency. A fairly constant
portion of (a booming) population continues to live in abject poverty, while widespread
unemployment has pushed as many as 10 million Filipinos overseas.
The Filipinos got rid of a despot, but in exchange they fell (once again) victim to the very
oligarchy that the Marcos dictatorship tried to tame. Frustrated over the limited
development gains of the post-EDSA regime, a growing number of people, especially
among the youth and educated, have flirted with historical revisionism and fantasies of
strongman rule. A more judicious assessment, however, shows that what the Philippines
needs is not a return to autocracy, but instead establishing a genuine democracy, which
it never has had.
Elite Democracy
In Civil Resistance and Power Politics, edited by Sir Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton
Ash, Filipino political scientist Amado Mendoza skillfully demonstrates the limits of EDSA
uprising in terms of bringing about systemic change to the Philippine society. The “people
power” uprising underscored the efficacy of non-violent resistance against brutal
dictatorships, inspiring students, labor unions and political activists in Taiwan, South
Korea, Latin America and much of Eastern bloc to successfully depose autocracies (both
communist and capitalist) across the world.
The problem, Mendoza points out, was that the EDSA uprisings largely returned the
country to the pre-Marcos oligarchy, which was more interested in protecting its own
privileges than promoting the welfare of a promising post-colonial nation. No wonder
then, the Philippines rapidly transformed from one of the fastest growing economies in
the world in the 1950s, with the second highest per capita income in the region, into a
dysfunctional democracy by the late-1960s.
It was precisely the incompetence and greed of the old oligarchy, many of whom
descended from favored indigenous clients of Western colonial powers, which set the
stage of Marcos’ dictatorship.
Visionary and self-confident, Ferdinand Marcos thought (a la ‘modernization theory’) that
democracy was not fit for a developing country like the Philippines, which had to first
consolidate its nation-building foundations.

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But Marcos was neither Park Chung-hee, who made South Korea a global industrial
powerhouse nor Lee Kuan Yew, who made Singapore a global force. Over time, the
Marcos regime descended into a repressive and dysfunctional order defined by endemic
corruption and debilitating cronyism that went along rampant violation of human rights
and basic civil liberties.
By the 1980s, the Philippines fell into an economic abyss, as hyperinflation, gigantic
dollar-denominated debt-free falling currency, and ransacked treasury exposed national
misery on an unprecedented scale. (See Table 2 for basic macroeconomic indicators of
Marcos regime)
Parts of Mindanao and much of rural Philippines also fell under the spell of insurgency,
threatening to shred the country into pieces. The country was a total mess. International
actors, particularly America, which for decades relied on Marcos as a staunch Cold War
ally, eventually sided with more progressive elements of the old oligarchy in order to
prevent a communist-led overthrow of a flagging dictatorship.
The result was the oxymoron of ‘elite democracy’, led by an oligarchy that persistently
blocked efforts at bringing about social justice and egalitarianism to the poverty-stricken
country. Instead of returning power to the people, it created a political system based in
a modus vivendi among the ruling families, who agreed on the primacy of electoral
competition as the prime mechanism for capture of the state machinery.
A Hollow Democracy
In his best-selling book How Asia Works, Joe Studwell, a trained economist and veteran
journalist, eloquently shows how the post-Marcos oversaw one of the most notoriously
ineffective land reform of the landed elite, it is an excellent gauge of state power and
egalitarian nature of its policy.
Comparing land reform programs across post-war Asia, Studwell laments: “Nowhere in
Asia has produced more plans for land reform than the Philippines. But equally no ruling
elite in Asia has come up with as many ways to avoid implementing genuine land
reform as Filipino one.”
The post-Marcos elite also skillfully instrumentalized the mantle of patriotism to create a
constitutional order, which placed all kinds of restrictions on foreign investments and
market competition. This allowed them to protect their inefficient industries and
monopolized key sectors of the economy.
Instead of creating a vibrant agriculture sector, so crucial to poverty- alleviation and early
industrialization take-off, and establishing a world-class manufacturing sector, so crucial
to employment-generation and exports earnings, the Philippines became a service-
oriented economy, with major conglomerates dominating utility, infrastructure, and retail
businesses.

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Today, the Philippines is among the poorest countries in Asia, with per capita incomes
that are comparable to sub-Saharan Africa and landlocked nations of Latin America. It is
also among the most unequal societies in the world. Recent years, in fairness, have seen
rapid economic growth, but 76 percent of newly-generated wealth was swallowed by 40
richest families, the worst kind of growth-concentration in Asia.
The political institutions are equally monopolized: Around 178 political dynasties
collectively dominate 73 out of a total 80 provinces, with vast majority of legislators (70
percent) hailing form political dynasties; not even Latin American countries like Mexico
(40 percent) and Argentina (10 percent) can match such level of oligarchic takeover.
No one in his right mind can call the Philippines a genuine democracy. It is an oligarchy,
where elites either directly compete in elections and/or bankroll the electoral campaigns
of their proxies. The Filipino voters, one could argue, are essentially glorified spectators
in this clash of titanic oligarchs.
Meanwhile, the remnants of the Marcos regime, including the late dictator’s family have
joined the fray. Astonishingly, Ferdinand, “Bong-bong” Marcos Jr. is in a strong position
to win the vice-presidency in coming elections, setting the stage for a potential Marcos
comeback to the Malacanang. And he hasn’t been shy with engaging in historically
revisionist claims aimed at glorifying his father’s legacy - inspiring an “autocratic
nostalgia” among a growing number of millennials, who have had no direct experience of
Marcos dictatorship but vividly experienced the failure of its successors.
Rodrigo Duterte, a firebrand provincial mayor and contender for presidency, hasn’t also
been shy with his praise for the late-dictator, even suggesting his openness to Ferdinand
Marcos’ burial as a national hero. Tapping into a wellspring of frustration among the
Filipino people, including the (impressionable) millennials and middle classes, both
Marcos and Duterte have emerged as serious contenders for the top office, promoting
‘strongmen’ style of leadership as the only way forward for the country. Well, as the
legendary Lee Kuan Yew, who had little respect for incompetent leaders, once lamented.
“Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for
over 20 years, still be considered for national burial”

The Philippines is rapidly approaching a crossroads, given the choice between reverting
to strongman leaders or, alternatively, complete the EDSA revolution by bringing about
genuine democracy. We may well discover which direction the country chooses to pursue
as we approach the 2016 presidential elections.

For review, go to:

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Heydarian, Richard Javad. Philippines’ Incomplete Revolution: Elite Democracy and

Autocratic Nostalgia. Huffington Post. The World Post . 2018.
Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-javad-
heydarian/philippines- incomplete_re_b9323770.html on February 24, 2018.

II. DIGITAL SELF

One of the interesting aspects of the self that we can unpack at this point of our
history is our being digital citizens. Along with our digital citizenship is the notion of self-
presentation specially with our acquaintance with social media sites that implies social
interaction. In this module we shall be looking into our self-presentation being enshrined
in our online interaction. We shall also be looking into the motivations for our social
interaction as well as some rules that we can observe in the new digital platforms that
we have.
Selective Self-Presentation or Impression Management
Self-Presentation
• Any behavior that is designed to convey an image about ourselves to other
people.
• This explains why our behavior can change if we notice we are being
watched/observed.
Selective Self-Presentation
• It is the process of creating a digital artefact which is a carefully chosen
representation or expression of one’s real world self. Usually it is synonymous
with impression management, in which a person tries to influence the
perception of their image to others.
Impression Management
• It is a conscious or subconscious process in which people attempt to influence
the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event.
• At first this was applied in face-to-face communication or interaction; but
today, it’s applied in computer-mediated communication.
• Impression management is the individual’s perception of certain persons
(including you), a material possession or an event. This explains why we try
to make the perception consistent with our goals.
Examples:
• A girl who only shares good things about her boyfriend to her parents by
trying to present him as a good catch so they can stay together.

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• If a woman spends hours thinking about the right outfit to wear to a party,
she may be trying to present herself as beautiful and stylish while looking for
a date.
Impression Management Strategies include:
1. Ingratiation– “behaving in ways to make oneself likable to others”
2. Self-promotion– accenting your strong points in order to earn respect
3. Exemplification– “demonstrating exemplary behaviour in order to boost your integrity
or character
4. Intimidation– using physical or emotional threats to get what you want from others
5. Supplication– “acting weak or dependent in order to get favours from others”
6. Negative acknowledgment– admitting your flaws.

All these strategies carry risks, thus to make good impression you must use these
strategies skillfully.
Many of us can identify with the desire to be seen in a certain way or cause someone we
care about to be seen in a certain way too.
Sometimes it's conscious and sometimes it’s not, but when we pay attention, we find
several perceptions we are striving to get from others.

2 main motives why people seek to influence other’s perception:

1. The Instrumental Motive
• It includes the desire for increased self-esteem.
• Its fundamental meaning is the gaining of rewards. So, when we try to manage
perceptions to get something back from another person, we are motivated
through instrumental purposes.
• For example, if a sales Lady representative shares with her customer that she
uses this particular bar of soap and goes on to explain how it has helped her
skin, her reason for encouraging this sale might be her desire for a raise. Maybe
that is why she has been trying many products lately and praising them to
customers. Besides seeking a raise, a person could be looking for acceptance,
respect, more friends, etc.

2. The Expressive Motive

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• Comes down to wanting to be in charge of one's personal behaviour and

identity. It can come as a response to social norms, expectations or restrictions,
and it seeks to show others something different.
• For example, when you were growing up, your parents wanted you to dress,
speak or act in a certain way, and you wanted to show to them that they
could not define you. Whether or not we have felt this way, many people
become aware of how they are viewed and want to change that view of
them.
Impression Management was first conceptualized 1st by Erving Goffman in 1959, and
then was expanded in 1967. Thus, the foundation and the defining principles were
found in his well-known work – The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.
Goffman "proposed to focus on how people in daily work situations present themselves
and, in so doing, what they are doing to others“. In other words, how individuals wish
to present themselves, but in a way that satisfies their needs and goals.
He was "particularly interested in how a person guides and control how others form
an impression of them and what a person may or may not do while performing before
them“.
In contemporary times, the most interesting aspect of the advent of computer
mediated communication (CMC) is how it reveals basic elements of interpersonal
communication, bringing into focus fundamental processes that occur as people meet
and develop relationships relying on typed messages as the primary mechanism of
expression.
CMC has progressed since computers were invented, even within the last 10 years.
Through CMC, individuals are given a chance to meet other individuals with an ease
and frequency that was not possible for previous generations. With this new
technology, social behaviour norms and expectations have shifted. This shift has
generated an ample amount of research that helps provide an understanding of the
new phenomenon.
Thurlow, Lengel, and Tomic (2005) define computer-mediated communication (CMC)
o It is “any human communication achieved through or with help of
computer technology”
o This allows for relationships to generate and also function as a platform
through which relationships are facilitated.
o This has a very broad spectrum of examples, among these are:
conversations within online chat rooms, e-mail communication, blog
postings and vlog postings.
o Self-disclosure is considered a foundation of all romantic relationships.

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o In essence, self-disclosure is the process in which an individual

communicates personal information to another person through computer-
mediated-communication.
Setting Boundaries to Your Online Self: Smart Sharing
The following guidelines will help you share information online in a smart way that
will protect yourself and not harm others. Before posting or sharing anything online,
consider the following:
1. Is this post or a story necessary?
2. Is there a real benefit to this post? Is it funny, warm hearted, teachable - or am I
just making noise online without purpose?
3. Have we (as a family or parent /child) resolved this issue? An issue that is still
being worked out at home, or one that is either vulnerable or highly emotional,
should not be made public.
4. Is it appropriate? Does it stay within the boundaries of our family values?
5. Will this seem as funny in five, ten, or 15 years? Or is this post better suited for
sharing with a small group of family members? Or maybe not at all?
Ethical Use of the Internet:
Here are some additional guidelines for proper sharing of information and ethical use
of the Internet according to New (2014):
1. Stick to safer sites.
2. Guard your passwords.
3. Limit what you share.
4. Remember that anything you put online or post on a site is there forever, even if
you try to delete it.
5. Do not be mean or embarrass other people online.
6. Always tell if you see strange or bad behavior online.
7. Be choosy about your online friends.
8. Be patient.

Positive Impact of Social Media and Online Interaction on the Self

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1. Social media sites inform and empower individuals to change themselves and their
communities.
2. Increased self-esteem when receiving many likes and shares. Research suggests
not young users report increased self-esteem and general well-being following
instances of positive feedback on social networking sites (Valkenburg, Peter and
Schouten, 2006). Relatedly, results from a 2009 survey of college students
indicated that the heaviest Facebook users were also most satisfied with their lives
and exhibited greater social and political engagement (Valenzuela, Park, and Kee,
2009).
3. Boost once morale and feelings of self-worth (Toma, 2010 – Social Media &
Identity 2013)
Negative Impact of Social Media and Online Interaction on the Self
1. Extensive online engagement is correlated with personality and brain disorders like
for social skills, ADHD, narcissistic tendencies, a need for instant gratification and
addictive behaviors and other emotional distress like depression, anxiety and
loneliness. A study in 1998 conducted by Robert Kraut of Carnegerie Mellon
University Showed that within two years after people first accessed the Internet
their happiness levels decreased. Another study in 2010 also observed that
Internet and social media has a small, yet significant detriment one overall well
being. This is because browsing social media sites alone can lead to feeling of
jealousy because we are comparing our self identity to the online persona of
others.
2. Online engagement can hide your real feelings. The extra effort involved in face
to face interactions can be spared in online interactions that are founded on
minimal or constrained social cues; most of these signals can be summed up in
emoticons or punctuation. Hence, it is easier to hide our emotions behind an email,
A Facebook post or a tweet. (Liraz Margalit PhD)
3. It can lead to low self-esteem due to the risk of being exposed to cyber bullying
and cyber pornography.
4. More occupied in giving attention to social media than in keeping their customs
and practices.

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Key Points

• Politics is the art or science of government; the art or science concerned with guiding
or influencing governmental policy and the art or science concerned with winning and
holding control over a government. (https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/politics)


• The ff. are the factors that influence politics: (1) Individual (Atttitudes and Values); (2)
Institutional; and (3) Community.


• Filipino, as per the 1987 Constitution, is defined as ““…those whose fathers or mothers are
citizens of the Philippines, those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect
Filipino citizenship upon reaching the age of majority, and those who are naturalized
according to the law.”


• Democracy is a is a socio-political theory which essentially means as the rule of the people.
• Self-Presentation is any behavior that is designed to convey an image about ourselves
to other people.


• Selective Self-Presentation it is the process of creating a digital artefact which is a
carefully chosen representation or expression of one’s real world self. Usually it is
synonymous with impression management, in which a person tries to influence the
perception of their image to others.

• Impression Management is a conscious or subconscious process in which people

attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event.

• There are 2 main motives why people seek to influence other’s perception: (1) The
Instrumental Motive and (2) The Expressive Motive.

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• According to Thurlow, Lengel, and Tomic they defined computer-mediated

communication (CMC) as “any human communication achieved through or with help
of computer technology”

• The ff. are the basic Ethical Use of the Internet: (1) Stick to safer sites; (2) Guard your
passwords; (3) Limit what you share; (4) Remember that anything you put online or post on
a site is there forever, even if you try to delete it; (5) Do not be mean or embarrass other
people online; (6) Always tell if you see strange or bad behavior online; (7) Be choosy about
your online friends; and (8) Be patient.

• There are notable positive and negative impacts of social media and online interaction on
the self.

References

Books
Alata, E.J., Caslib Jr B., Serafica J & Pawilen R.A. (2018). Understanding the Self. Quezon City: Rex
Printing Co. Inc.


Chaffee, J. (2015). The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically about Profound Ideas. 5th Ed.
Boston: Pearson.

Jhangiani, R. ,Tarry H. (2014). Principles of Social Psychology. 1st Ed. Creative Commons
Attribution – Non Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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