University of the East Manila

UE Political Science College of Science and Arts

INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS

FINALS THINKPIECE

Do you think that changing the Political System should be priority of the next administration? Why or
why not? Discuss and explain your answer/s

PORTILLO, AERON PAUL M.

DR. DE TORRES

DATE: MAY 25, 2022

 The Philippines' political system is based around a presidential, representative, and
democratic republic, featuring the president serving as simultaneously the head of country and the
head of administration in a multi-party system. The Philippines' political system is formed by three
branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Executive power is implemented by the
administration under the leadership of the president. Legislative power is vested in both the
government and the two-chamber congress the Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of
Representatives (the lower chamber). Judicial power is vested in the courts with the Supreme Court
of the Philippines as the highest judicial body.

Based on what I observed as a political science student, despite of a lot of various

challenges that our country’s encountering, I strongly believe that changing political system should
be the top priority of the next administration. Even though that government seeks to act in the best
interests of its citizens through utilized political system, it is undeniably that current system has a
lot of issues and problems that continuously affects the nation’s reputation and development in
political aspect.

According to Setia, Rodriguez, & Xia (2022), in current times the great majority of the
world’s political systems have experienced one form or another of internal warfare leading to
violent collapse of the governments in power. Certain crisis situations seem to increase the
likelihood of this kind of breakdown. Wars and, more particularly, national military defeats have
been decisive in prompting many revolutions. Countless variables play a part to the emergence of
an ambience in which revolutionary political reform and violent widespread intervention are
acceptable to massive amounts of people, together with the undervaluing of human existence,
population dislocation, the easy accessibility of weapons, the disappearance of command, the
delegitimizing of government leadership, material resource scarcity, and a perception of wounded
patriotic pride. Economical catastrophes are a typical trigger for revolutions, as they generate not
only the apparent constraints of shortage and suffering, but also a danger to a person's social rank,
a sense of uneasiness and uncertainty about the future, and a worsening of social class relations.

In that sense, unstable and unsolid political system of specific nation or country can
definitely lead to national breakdown in all aspects of government. Crisis events put the
sustainability of political systems to the ultimate trial, because they make unprecedented
expectations on the political leadership as well as the system's framework and operations. When
communication mechanisms are unable to work efficiently, institutional organizations and
methods struggle to settle demand disputes and apply appropriate rules, and the system fails to be
perceived as receptive by the individuals and groups placing demands on it, violent collapse
occurs. Typically, a system has neglected to meet continuous and broad objectives over a period
of time; then, when subjected to the extra stresses of a crisis scenario, it is unable to sustain itself.

We have a situation in the Philippines where the upper or ruling class manufactures
political fact for people. The significance ascribed to the election as an arena of activity and a
mechanism for accomplishing political change exemplifies this process. Elections are imbued with
historic meaning by formal learning in "civics," the authority of custom and legislation, language
that infuses the activity with the mandate of the "conventional" and the "sacral," and other
considerations. Obeisance is paid to the "state" during elections, and the people are constituted or
recreated as its "subjects." In effect, conducting elections on a regular basis feed and regenerates
the institution (Rocamora, 2005).

Based on the statement above, the electoral system is based on a presidential style of
administration, single member constituency districts for the national assembly, and a first-past-
the-post voting method for most elected offices. In this arrangement, the "zero sum" nature of
political battles amplifies the enormous personal involvement of elections. Families and clans are
the most powerful political entities in local politics due to the lack of viable political parties.
Because election success or defeat decides the clan's economic destiny and "honor," using any
possible measures to win, including murder and fraud, is reasonable. Moreover, we all knew that
every election in our country, there’s numerous candidate in politics sell their votes during their
campaign and worst they’ve begin to execute an immoral act through cheating and swindling in
order to win.

There has been worry about the state of democracy for some years, probably most notably
among the better stable democracies. This is mostly based on lower levels of voter engagement in
elections, which seem to suggest an absence of public awareness and engagement. Low voter
participation throws into doubt the legitimacy of so-called democratically elected administrations,
which are really chosen by a minority of the people in some nations. Electing leaders and judging
them on policy success leaves democracies vulnerable to management and policy decisions that
show voter incompetence and stupidity (Annan, 2022).

From my perspective, Philippine democracy system in terms of voting firm will remain in
chaos and continuously having a battle between people who have rights to vote and those
candidates for specific position. The method of behavioral responsibility, which is intended to
originate from participating people, is one of the fundamental basic design features of democracy.
In simple words, people are thought to know what they want, to be competent of choosing policies
that will help them obtain it, and to vote for politicians who will pursue those policies and provide
results. Several Filipino voters are simply too unaware about political players and policies to
correctly link specific policy choices to specific parties or individuals. A vote is used to nominate
anyone to a governmental job or comparable profession in a formalized manner. It's critical to
recognize the distinction between election form and election content. Therefore, the democracy
system in our country is extremely scary because in regard pf electing someone, our freedom,
rights, and pride will be change in the split of seconds if the ignorance and biased selection of our
fellowmen Filipinos will remain.

As stated again by Annan (2022), there are two issues that are more tightly linked to the
concept of representative democracy, both of which include minority concerns. The first issue is
that minority concerns are frequently ignored by the voting process: this might happen if their
numbers are insufficient to meet the minimal threshold for representation. The second issue is that,
even if their numbers are reflected in the legislative chamber, they will have a minority of councils
who may not be sufficient to muster the requisite votes to overturn the majority. For these reasons,
democracy is frequently characterized to as "majority rule."

In regards of the statement above, if majority rule is not accompanied by an assurance of

universal human rights, it might result to actions that are damaging to minorities, with the "will of
the people" providing no rationale. Whatever the majority's desire may be, the core concerns of
minorities and majorities must be maintained in every democratic society by respect to human
rights principles, supported by an efficient legal framework. By majority rule, the representatives
with the highest votes express the people's will. Minority rights are those that are granted to
everyone, regardless of whether or not they are a member of the majority. A majority vote cannot
be used to repeal these rights. Minorities should believe that when making judgments that impact
everyone, the majority will consider their desires.

Despite a lengthy history of democratic administration and genuine attempts at market-

oriented economic reformation, unemployment, corruption, violence, and insurgency continue to
afflict the Philippines. This stagnation is exacerbated by the governing system's longstanding
exclusion from the legal system, which has kept the inattentive and ineffective ruling elite out of
political and economic pressure that may drive substantial reform. The Philippines' incapacity to
bring the ruling class under the rule of law is a continuous roadblock to development that can only
be overcome by continuous democratic pressure from the Filipino people (Rogers, 2004).

I firmly believe that even our country is in the form of democracy system, there’s no
changes occurs and development happen in all aspects. So meaning, the next administration should
change the political system in the way that our country will transform as one of the developing
countries and lessen the issues we face today including poverty, unemployment, violence,
corruption and insurgency, or much better is to eradicate those little by little.

As reported by Macababbad (2022), the emergence of political dynasties has created a

dilemma at the core of the election mechanism in the Philippines, where democratic has prospered
for further than a quarter-century. According to Teresa and Eduardo Tadem of University of the
Philippines Diliman, a political dynasty is a family's centralization of authority from successive
generations, converting public office into personal possessions. The influence of political
dynasties, which extend from the upper to the lower levels of government, has prompted several
requests for constitutional revisions. While Article II, Section 26 of the charter outlaws’ political
dynasties, it requires an authorizing statute to take effect. After nearly 34 years, no legislation has
been introduced to address this long-standing problem. At the final moment of the day, voters are
eventually rejected in this occurrence in Philippine politics due to a lack of options. Political
dynasties have effectively enculturated parochial government at the local level, allowing the
people to bear the consequences of the clans' hunger for power, which results in delayed economic
and sociological growth.

In agreement with Macababbad statement regarding political dynasty, it is tremendously

bringing negative effects in our political system. It has long been argued that political dynasties
are incompatible with democratic norms because they do not give equal chance for people to
assume positions of authority and responsibility. With the establishment of the political dynasty,
it appears that a single clan or family controls all positions of authority. The political dynasty is
believed to dominate the government system since it limits the opportunities for other ordinary
Filipinos to serve the public. It causes a brain drain because a fresh and skilled leader who might
be able to outperform those presently in office would not be given the chance to compete against
someone with a reputation.

To finalize all the evidences stated, changing political system is vital not only for us, but
definitely for our country to make changes and development in all aspects, and it is obviously the
top priority and goal of the next regime that should prioritize. Due to all hard and wide problems
and challenges that our country’s encountering and cannot stop with our previous leaders, the
democracy system is not a final key for our success and freedom. Unstable and not having a strong
foundation of political system, election or voting system, majority rules over minority rules, and
issue of political dynasty are some of the challenges thus, changing political system should be a
priority in the next administration. Furthermore, I think that in order to change the political system
in our country, good governance must be exist. The government must be involved in the
development of a backward state, and in the twenty-first century, the public administration is
responsible for a significant portion of this duty. The goal of administration should always be to
promote growth. The yardstick of performance will determine how much development has been
accomplished. Good governance is more than just administration; it also entails administration that
tries to improve performance.
REFERENCES:

• Setia, Rodriguez, & Xia. (n.d.). political system - Development and change in political
systems. Encyclopedia Britannica; www.britannica.com. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-system/Development-and-change-in-political-
systems

• Rocamora, J. (2005, July 26). Formal Democracy and its Alternatives in the Philippines:
Transnational Institute; www.tni.org. https://www.tni.org/es/node/7396

• Annan, K. (n.d.). Democracy. Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People;
www.coe.int. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from
https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/democracy

• Rogers, S. (2004, October 1). Philippine Politics and the Rule of Law | Journal of
Democracy. Journal of Democracy; www.journalofdemocracy.org.
https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/philippine-politics-and-the-rule-of-law/

• Macababbad, E. J. (2022, January 16). EXPLAINER: The Pros and Cons of Political
Dynasty in the Philippines - Politixxx Today. Politixxx Today; politixxx.today.
https://politixxx.today/explainer-the-pros-and-cons-of-political-dynasty-in-the-
philippines/