Political Parties and

Electoral Politics
LIOBEL B. PASION
Philippine Politics and Governance
San Antonio National High School
POLITICAL PARTIES
• Group of people for the purpose of winning
government power, by electoral or other means
• Interest holders united by a definite set of party
programs and attempt to advance a consistent line of
policy
• Main goal is to gain control of the levers of
government so that they can realize their policies or
programs
CHARACTERISTICS
•Organizational structure w/ lines of
authority and power distribution
•Seeks to attract popular support in the
form of votes
•Recruits and fields candidates for
elective positions
Types of Political Parties
• Based on membership
- mass
- cadre
- devotee
• Based on the arena of activity
- constitutional
- revolutionary
Types of Political Parties Based on
Ideological Orientation
•Left Parties (Far-left)
•Center Parties
•Right Parties (Far Right)
Left Parties (Far Left)
• Goal is the eventual destruction of existing
class hierarchies in society, by violence if
necessary; call for comprehensive
government intervention in the economy to
redistribute wealth and guarantee welfare
security to the most vulnerable
Center parties
•Believe in the value of self-
initiative and minimal state
role in economy
Right parties (Far-Right)
•Parties of ultra-conservatism and
exclusionism; believe in “natural”
differences among humans and that
there are some persons, races,
religions, and classes that are more
fit to rule than others
Electoral Politics
•Vital connections between state
authority and society, linking the
structure of government to other social
groupings
•Political action – seeking power to
achieve policy objectives
Elections
• “a device for filling an office through
choices made by a designated body of
people: the electorate”
• for the ordinary citizen: “elections are
seen as the clearest instance of politics
entering their lives”
Functions
• “Bottom-up” function (people – government view)
- provide the citizenry with a meaningful way of
participating in government
- the mechanism for leadership selection
- an instrument for evaluating and changing government
- the forum for interest articulation and political
socialization
Functions
•“Top-Down” functions (government –
people view)
- the instrument of rule legitimization
- guide to political strategy
- agent of political socialization and
integration
The voting in the Philippines: PartyList
• Party-List System – Art VI, Sec. 5 of the 1987
Philippine Constitution
- party-list representatives be elected to constitute 20
per centum of the total number of seats in the House of
Representative
• Provides an opportunity for under-represented
sectors and parties in Philippine society to have a
legitimate chance of winning representation in
Congress
Quality of Elections in the Philippines
• Anomalies in Philippine Elections:
1. Lack of human manpower in the Comelec
2. Influence of “gold, guns and goons”
3. Flying voters
4. Vote buying
5. Tampering with the election returns
6. Dagdag-bawas
Quality of Elections in the Philippines
• Prevention of Electoral frauds:
1. Vigilance of citizens
2. Relevant government bodies
3. Reform such as computerization and continuous
registration
4. Political education
5. Poll observers (local and international during
election)
quiz
1. What party system provides the opportunity of representation to
the marginalized sector?
2. Give one anomaly in the Philippine election
3. Give one prevention of electoral fraud
4. It is a device for filling an office
5. It is a link of the government to social groups
6. Its goal is the destruction of class hierarchy in society
7. It is a party of ultra-conservatism and exclusionism
8. It is a party that believes in the value of self initiative
Answer to quiz
1. Party-list system
2. Lack of human manpower in the Comelec, Influence of “gold, guns and goons”,
Flying voters, Vote buying, Tampering with the election returns, Dagdag-bawas
3. Vigilance of citizens, Relevant government bodies, Reform, Political education,
Poll observers
4. Election
5. Electoral politics
6. Far-left parties
7. Far-Right parties
8. Center parties
Center-Left parties
•Differ from left by their disavowal of
violence and coercion; believe that
equitable distribution of wealth is still a
societal goal that should be realized by
proper state intervention (with
concurrence from the people)
Center-Right parties
•Believe that the task of the
government is to provide peace
and order and to ensure the
proper enforcement of laws and
legal contracts
Voting Activities in the Philippines
• Elections – citizenry select person who will exercise governmental
power
• Plebiscite – popular vote conducted to get electorate’s view on
permanent changes to state’s political structure
• Referendum – popular vote regarding soundness of a law proposed
• Recall – constitutional measure which empower citizenry to
remove a local official
• Initiative – a given percentage of voters may officially propose a
law