Republic of the Philippines

Pangasinan State University

OPEN UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS
Lingayen, Pangasinan

DM 216 PUBLIC POLICY AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Dr. Ma. Jasmine J. De Guzman - Professor
Master in Development Management
Midyear Class 2020
Lecture Series 3

INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS IN POLICY MAKING PROCESS

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I. What are the content of this lecture series?

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POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTEREST GROUPS

Interest groupts – any group (organized or unorganized) which makes certain claims upon
other groups in the society for the establishment, maintenance or enhancement of certain actions.
The group is made up of individuals who share certain common traits or attitudes. They come
into the purview of political science when they purposely act to influence public officials in order
to achieve something for their benefit. They are called lobbyists, pressure groups or third chamber
of legislature. For example, a group of Spanish professor and Hispanists in the Philippines for
some time, managed to lobby the bill to delete the Spanish subjects required in college.

Importance and effectiveness of interest groups depend upon the following

1. Nature and size of the groups, its internal unity, and the amount of interest given by the
members to the issues that affect them as group members
2. Opportunities given to the group to organize and to express their opinions
3. Quality of membership and leadership
4. Structure of the political system itself

Ways the interest groups get involved in politics

1. Bribing and corrupting public officials
2. Informing and advising public officials
3. Conducting public discussions, campaigns and reform movements to advocate or raise
the consciousness of the community
4. Actual domination and control of government processes

Political party – the voluntary association of individuals who advocate certain principles
of policies as superior to all other for the general conduct of government and which nominates
and supports certain of its leaders as electoral candidates in order to secure the most immediate
adoption of their party platforms. Political parties seek political power directly through the
electoral method by regularly and formally presenting candidates. Manuel L Quezon once
averted: “My loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins.”
Disadvantages of political parties
1. Some people believe that parties confuse rather than clarify the issues. Benjamin Franklin
worried about parties “tearing to pieces the best of characters.” Thomas Jefferson said,
“If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all”
2. It is not true that the best politicians must come from political parties
3. Parties have resorted to corrupt political practices to ensure their victory and protection –
e.g. gerrymandering (dividing constituents to favor one party), the “spoils system”
(distributing jobs to party members), and the “pork barrel” (legislating money bills or
business ventures to favor party members). etc.

Functions of political parties

1. Recruit candidates for public office
2. Nominate candidates
3. Raise campaign funds
4. Clarify the issues
5. Unify diverse interest
6. Mobilize voters
7. Help run election
8. Write platforms
9. Simplify voting choices
10. Oppose the policies of the other parties
11. Help leaders to bridge the separation of powers
12. Help in the peaceful management of conflicts
13. Link popular wishes and government actions
14. Act as the opposition when not in power

Reasons individuals join political parties

1. For patronage
2. Get special treatment from the government
3. Enhance own career
4. Economic benefit
5. Personal gratification
6. Have and to wield an influence on the others
7. Ideological fulfillment

Kinds of party members

1. The party leaders who are the eminent persons and the acknowledged guides of party
policy and directives
2. The average members who make up the great majority of the party
3. The party zealots who have total sympathy and concern for the party’s aims and
principles who are the “activists” who commit to the party a major part of their time,
resources and imagination.

Kinds of party systems

1. Two-party system – the major political parties alternate with each other in the exercise of
political power. Example is United States (Democratic and Republican parties) and
Britain (Conservative and Labour parties)
2. Multi-party system – more than two political parties fight in an election and no single
party gets the majority control of power. Examples in Switzerland (9 parties), Italy (8
parties), France (7 parties) ,etc.
 3. One-party system – only one political party holds power either because it towers above
the other or because to suppresses all other groups

POLITICIANS WITH STRATEGIC POSITION

>In 1971, President Marcos certifies to Congress 7 urgent bills which will create the NEDA and
NFA, declare a national policy for the petroleum industry.

>President Macapagal certifies to Congress the urgency of the passage of the bill moving the
Independence Day celebration from July 4 th to June 12th

>President Macapagal renews attacks on the leaders of the sugar bloc who are determined to
install their own men in Congress to protect their vested interests. He name names, all
Nacionalistas: Senator Fernando Lopez and Representative Jose Aldeguer (Iloilo), Francisco
Ortega (La Union) Ramon Mitra (Mountain Province), Lorenzo Teves (Negros Oriental).

>March 1953. Ramon Magsaysay publicly announces his affiliation with the opposition
Nacionalista Party. He signed his NP affilication in January after meeting with party leaders Jose
P. Laurel, Claro M. REctro and Lorenzon TAnada and Eulogio Rodriguez. It is an odd political
marriage of convenience. The hardcore Nacionalista team is still that of Laurel-Recto, and
Magsaysay does not quite fit anywhere. Senator Laurel is quite frank about it. The main purpose
is inviting Magsaysay to the minority party is to remove the only redeeming feature of the Liberal
Party. He adds, “The only thing we have to do is to beat Quirino, and Magsaysay is the man to do
it.

NEWS MEDIA

>The average politician has trouble getting their message to voters because he or she attracts too
little news coverage and direct communication is far too expensive. To address this problem,
most politicians buy as much direct communication as they can affored and chase as much news
attention as their skills and positions of authority permit. To that end, many politicians have
perfected techniques for generating favorable coverage. Presidents, for example, have appreciated
for years that foreign travel and visits to disaster sites engender favorable news reports. And as
President George W. Bush discovered after his sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina, failure to
rush to the scene of disasters can engender the public’s enmity

>The politicians needs sympathetic access to voters, and the reporter required information that
makes for a good story. No working journalist wants to appear to be publicist for some politician.
And the conveyed information that best serves the politician’s purpose will rarely coincide with
that good story coveted by the reporter.

>Democratic presidential nominee Barack Abama announced selection of his vice presidential
running mate not at a press conference but via cell phone text message to four million supporters.

>Then as now, the president was at the center of new media’s attention. During his years in the
White house, Franklin Roosevelt (1933-1945) conducted 998 bi weekly press conferences with a
regular group of White House correspondents. The president used these “family gathering” as he
called, as occasions to make significant announcement.
>The Washington DC contains a far larger, more diverse population of news producers. They
compete as much with each other as with politicians in ferreting out stories. One could sense this
merging reconfiguration as early as 1961, when President John F Kennedy conducts his first press
conference on live, prime time television.

>Many more politicians engage in political talk, trying to attract the attention of an increasingly
diverse news media. By one count, more than 10,000 government officials in Washington DC
alone are involved in press and public relations on a daily basis. The number of trade associations
and other interest groups seeking to influence public opinion easily surpasses this number. The
greatest barrier to successful media exposure is the sheer volume of competing news stories
chasing media outlets on any given news day.

>Television competed with newspapers for audiences and advertisers, and consequently for the
attention of presidents and other politicians. Now, the internet wields the same impact.

>Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that “Senator Enrile has corrupt journalists in his
payroll, corrupt military officials who constitute his private army, his minions in the customs
bureau and the internal revenue bureau, both of which he used to head and consider to be his
fiefdoms, as well as key appointive officials in local government and the diplomatic service, who
serve as his sycophantic spies”

References :

Carlos, Clarita R. & Dennis M. Lalata (2010). Democratic Benefits in the Philippines: What is to
be done? Center for Political and Democratic Reform, Inc. QC. ISBN 978-971-94932-0-4. pp 17-
27

Zaide, Sonia M. (1996). Political Science 2 nd Edition. All Nations Publishing Co. Inc. Inc, QC.
ISBN 971-642-031. Pp 177-187

Abueva, Jose V. and Raul P. de Guzman. Foundations and Dynamics of Filipino Government
and Politics. The Bookmark Inc., Manila. 1969.

Kernel, et al. (2009) The Logic of American Politics.

Santiago, Miriam D. Politics and Governance with Philippine Constitution. Central Professional
Books, Inc. Quezon City. 2002.

Sta. Maria, Mel. (2015). What’s the Point.? Lorimar Publishing, Inc. QC. Pp. 105-107.