Political Parties and Electoral

Politics

Prof. Lourdes Veneracion-Rallonza, PhD

Department of Political Science

Ateneo de Manila University

POLITICAL PARTIES

• group of people organized 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 arena of activities

- constitutional

- revolutionary

Types of Political Parties

• Based on ideological orientation

- 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 & guarantee welfare security to

the most vulnerable

- 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)

Types of Political Parties• Based on ideological orientation

- Center parties: believe in the value of self-

initiative & a minimal state role on economy

- 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

- Right parties (Far-Right): parties of ultra

conservatism & exclusionism; believe in „natural‟

differences among humans and that there are some

persons, races, religions, classes that are more fit

to rule than others.

• vital connections between state authority

and society, linking the structure of

government to other social groupings

• political action – seeking power to achieve

policy objectives

ELECTORAL POLITICS

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” functions (People

Government View)

– provide the citizenry with a meaningful way

of participating in government

– mechanism for leadership selection

– An instrument for evaluating and changing

governments

– forum for interest articulation and political

socialization

• “Top-Down” functions (Government-

People View)

– instrument of rule legitimization

– guide to political strategy

– agent of political socialization and

integration

Functions

Voting Activities in the

Philippines• Elections – citizenry selects 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 empowers citizenry to remove a local official.

• Initiative – a given percentage of voters may officially propose a law.

The Voting System in the

Philippines: Party-List

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 the seats in the House of the

Representative

Provides 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 the citizens

2) relevant government bodies

3) reforms such as computerization and

continuous registration

4) political education

5) poll observers (local and international)

during elections