Some blame the Philippines’s corruption problem on the merging of Filipino traditions with American

institutions. One Filipino political scientist told Smithsonian magazine, “Americans taught us the idea of
honesty and integrity in civil service but local culture conflicts with the democratic model.”

Key points:

 Democracy in the Philippines – not represented by most of the population

 American-style of democracy – emphasized the limitation on power; regarded plutocracy
 Colonialism - the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another
country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
 Civil service’s problems
o Politicization
o Resistance to decentralization
o Persistence of Corruption
o demoralization
 With no tradition of civil service and the prevalence of strong family and community ties, bribery
and nepotism have seeped into the system.
o Nepotism - the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or
friends, especially by giving them jobs.
o Extreme family centeredness and extreme personalism
 Political dynasties in the Philippines