Building Inclusive Democracies in ASEAN

The following sections are included:

• Table of Contents
• List of Tables, Graphs, Figures, and Appendices
• List of Acronyms
• Acknowledgments

The following sections are included:

• Building an Inclusive Democracy Coalition
• What’s in this book?

The relationship between democracy and inclusive growth is rather complicated. On the one hand, democracies are built with mechanisms and processes to enable the state to respond to the needs of its citizenry. It can be argued that this setup could lead to greater investments in human capital and equitable socioeconomic outcomes. On the other hand, democracies are vulnerable to policy paralysis and myopia. For instance, insecure tenures and term limits make it challenging to reconcile short-term aspirations and personal interests with the pursuit of reforms essential for the promotion of inclusive growth…

The secret ballot has been a key component of free and fair elections for centuries, based on the rationale that secrecy ensures independence in voting (Evans, 1917; Baland and Robinson, 2008; Gerber et al., 2013). Although there are variations in implementation, the secret ballot generally refers to the concept of uniform ballots printed and distributed by the government and marked privately by individuals. The most popular form of secret ballot is called the Australian ballot because Victoria and South Australia were the first to introduce this voting procedure in 1856. Great Britain and the United States adopted the secret ballot shortly after, in 1872 and 1884, respectively, and it became the standard practice for democracies in the modern world. The secret ballot reduces the likelihood that individual voters can be directly or indirectly controlled or coerced by more powerful individuals or groups (Cruz, 2013; Baland and Robinson, 2008). As a result, the development of the secret ballot and other institutional features to ensure free and fair voting are central to the establishment of democracy, especially in political contexts where socioeconomic inequalities can affect political outcomes (Baland and Robinson, 2008)…

Can anti-poverty programs implemented by the central government at the local level increase local incumbents’ re-election chances? Strategic concerns on the part of the central government have made it challenging to causally interpret correlations observed in the data. Recently, researchers have used data from quasi-experiments to provide evidence consistent with a causal impact of increased government spending on local incumbents’ re-election chances (Brollo, Nannicini, Perotti, and Tabellini, 2010; Litschig and Morrison, 2010). If that is the case, there is a risk that the loss associated with this indirect decrease in local electoral accountability outweighs the direct benefits from government spending. This concern might be especially acute in the case of anti-poverty programs targeted to poor districts that are often governed by poorly performing elected local officials. Even in situations where such programs have direct long-term benefits on household welfare, those impacts could be mitigated by negative impacts on accountability…

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, experiencing an average of 20 tropical cyclones or storms per year. One of the strongest typhoons to hit the county is Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, which left massive devastation in its wake. Similar to all governments in the aftermath of such disasters, the Philippine government mobilized resources to provide assistance to affected areas. Yet, an increasing number of research questions the extent to which political calculations (as opposed to need) motivate this type of government response. This chapter includes an analysis of the extent to which certain political calculations (specifically, connections between politicians) direct public goods provisions following natural disasters in the country…

Much has been written about the prevalence of dynasties in Philippine politics. Some believe that dynasties are endemic to the system, borne of a history of feudalism and patronage from which the citizenry is hard-pressed to break away. The assumption is that dynasties are bad for a democratic society, and that having many political dynasties in a system undermines good governance. This assumption is sometimes debated, but the majority of published work takes the view that dynasties are problems that need to be solved. The scale of dynastic rule in the country’s local offices is staggering, with as much as 66% of mayoral and 85% of gubernatorial positions occupied by members of deeply entrenched political families (Mendoza et al., this volume). According to analysis done in 2004, more than 60% of all legislators elected since 1986 are members of political clans (Coronel et al., 2004). This trend is increasingly mirrored in national-level elections. The current 24 senators in the 16th Congress include two sets of siblings, three sons of former presidents, the daughter of the vice president, eight children of former senators, and the wife of a former senator. Such is the situation, despite the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines’ express statement that “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”…

According to analysts, the 2013 Philippine mid-term elections provide important insights into the complexion and probable outcomes of the 2016 national elections. Key candidates forming part of the administration coalition ran for office in May (e.g. Risa Hontiveros and Bam Aquino), along with certain opposition candidates that some view act as proxies for potential presidential aspirants (e.g. Nancy Binay as a proxy for her father, incumbent Vice President Jejomar Binay). The 2013 election was also distinct because of the presence of a strong information and advocacy campaign against political dynasties. It was marked by efforts of various advocacy groups (e.g. Anti-Political Dynasty Movement, ANDAYAMO; and Movement Against Dynasties, MAD) to try and emphasize the potentially unconstitutional nature of dynasties, as well as their links to poverty and more traditional patron-client politics, seen inimical to inclusive growth and development. In addition, the election was also characterized by many reports of vote-buying. There were even claims that it had become much worse despite the computerization of elections in the Philippines since 2010 (which was partly done to mitigate election wrongdoing and anomalies, including vote-buying)…

As reflected in the analyses in this volume, the extant research on electoral outcomes in the Philippines does not yet clearly link those results to policy positions of the candidates. In this paper, I attempt to provide some initial insights on this, using data from the 2007 national elections and focusing on Senatorial votes. I compare the results to the public positions taken by candidates on three of the most controversial political economic issues of the time. These are the value added tax (VAT), charter change, and the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA). It is beyond the scope of this paper to fully elaborate on these reforms. One goal of this brief study is to try and link the candidates’ stances on these issues to the eventual voting results to see whether and to what extent their positions translated into votes. Another goal is to determine whether it even matters for the candidates to take stances on these issues…

Indonesia’s economy has long been characterized by a small group of business elites that controls a significant share of the country’s combined wealth. During the New Order (Orde Baru) period, Suharto built up a complex patrimonial system, surrounding himself with a limited number of trusted business owners, some of which are often referred to as oligarchs in the political science literature. The fact that Fisman’s (2001) seminal contribution to the study of business firms’ political connections focuses on Indonesia is thus not very surprising. Fisman’s analysis builds on the premise that a number of very successful Indonesian companies had, at least to a certain extent, built their fortune by exploiting benefits resulting from their close relationship to President Suharto, the country’s authoritarian ruler for more than thirty years. After Suharto seized power in the mid-1960s, private businesses, for the first time, began to accumulate capital and expand their operations on a larger scale. To set the country’s era of pembangunan (“development”) in motion, Suharto initiated comprehensive reforms aimed at liberalizing the economy. During this period, Suharto enabled people of Chinese origin living in Indonesia to participate fully in the economy. An important element of this process was the mobilization of Chinese capital. Utilizing an intricate system of concessions, Suharto began to promote entrepreneurs who had shown an aptitude for business, many of whom were of Chinese origin. Over time, the initial group of business elites, composed mainly of Sino-Indonesians, expanded and two key groups of business elites became increasingly important. First, a growing number of pribumi (indigenous Indonesians) business owners came to exercise more influence. Second, Suharto’s children became increasingly involved in a range of business-related activities…

Daniel Lerner (1958) wrote that new information communication technologies (ICTs) would lead to progress, modernity and development and irrevocably transform “traditional societies.” For a while, this view was highly influential—but it stagnated and culture became the retarding force against this radical change. Some fifty years later, we have once again become enamored by new technologies and their transformative effects. New technologies have remade the market and have enabled global commerce at a click of the button, with trade conducted on a 24/7 basis. Politically, they have become the new medium for organizing (e.g. social media was seen as playing a defining role in the Arab Spring) (Gelvin, 2012; Mason, 2012; Castells, 2012). It is clear that new media plays an important and even critical role in society, but such a reading is teleological; it fails to recognize the structural dimensions of society enabling such technologies. More importantly, it denies people the very significant role of agency and its effect on political change (Howard and Hussain, 2011; Khosrokhavar, 2012; Ramadan, 2012; Zurayk, 2012)…

The development of Thailand’s bureaucracy began from the time of the old old Kingdom of Sukhothai (late 13th century). The bureaucracy was formally organized on the premise that it existed to serve the King. The staff was comprised of close relatives of the King and commoners who rose to high—ranking posts on their own merits or through the King’s personal patronage…

During most of its democratic period, Thailand has been characterized by fragile, short-lived coalition governments. Despite emerging as an economic rising star in the late 1980s, it then became ground zero for the 1997–8 Asian financial crisis, and has entered the new millennium amid political turmoil and coup conundrum. Has the country been stuck with the “bureaucratic polity?” To what extent can the politics of policy-making in Thailand be characterized amid political chaos and instability? What is the prospect of institutional reform toward inclusive democracy? This chapter seeks to tackle these questions and makes three claims. First, since the 1980s, Thailand has oscillated between four reform paths, as explained by the interplay of two institutional factors: government type (strong or fragmented) and ruling-coalition type (traditional or elected elite). Yet, despite the country having experienced differing reform paths, all four have been shaped primarily by elite politics. Second, civil society can play a crucial role in enhancing the prospect of welfare provision and inclusive democracy, as witnessed in the exceptional success of the 30-baht health-care policy. Finally, the chapter suggests institutional reform that fosters party institutionalization, in tandem with civil society development, as an effective means of strengthening the inclusiveness of the democratic process.

Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew (1959–90) and Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines (1965–86) coexisted under similar geo-political pressures and espoused similar socio-political philosophies. Yet, Lee Kuan Yew’s rule derived credibility from a reputation for corruption-free governance, sobriety, and growth, while Ferdinand Marcos’ regime became famous for grand scale larceny, and stealing foreign aid for personal profit and gain. Lee established critical and durable limits that channeled government behavior into activities compatible with economic development thereby surpassing any of his regional rivials in competent public policy. In this article, we will explore the institutional features that were the source of different incentives for the promotion of economic development in Singapore and the Philippines…

Freedom of Information (FOI) is an issue aided by globalization. In 1975, only five countries had FOI laws. This number has grown to 62 countries in 2004, and 75 countries by 2008. Transnational groups, like Article 19 and Amnesty International, have made FOI advocacy part of their umbrella of issues. FOI has likewise become part of the good governance discourse of international governmental organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. FOI is becoming a standard practice in the international community, and as a result, more countries are pushing for the enactment of FOI laws…

Legislative malapportionment refers to the disparity in the number of registered voters across districts. This is an aspect of the electoral system that concerns not only democracies but also autocracies with regularly held elections. In this regard, this study is not about making democracies more inclusive, but about making an institution associated with democratic politics more inclusive in both democratic and authoritarian regimes in Asia…

The Philippines has long been considered as a changeless land (Timberman, 1991). It is a land where the same faces and family names have been able to withstand even so-called revolutions. It has also been called a country that is in “permanent crisis” — where the same problems and issues resurface time and again (Bello, 2005). For the longest time, systemic change that bridges the gap between the rich and the poor, as well as between the powerful and marginalized, has evaded the country. More than a century after the 1896 Philippine Revolution that gave birth to an independent Philippine Republic, and almost three decades after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that restored a rudimentary framework of democracy, Filipinos continue to clamor for both political and social change.

The Federal Party was established in 1900 as the first Filipino political party. Today, over a hundred years later, political parties in the Philippines continue to be candidate-centered coalitions of provincial bosses, political machines, and local clans; anchored on clientelistic, parochial, and personal inducements rather than on issues, ideologies, and party platforms. Political parties have existed in one form or another since the first party system (1900–1941), dominated by the Nacionalista Party (NP) was established under the tutelage of the American colonial regime. Soon after, a formal two party system (1946–1972) buttressed the postcolonial liberal democratic regime with the NP and the Liberal Party (LP) alternating in power. This system was destroyed by Ferdinand Marcos and replaced with a one party dictatorship (1972–1986) under his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL). The restoration of formal democracy in 1986 saw the emergence of a fluid multiparty system (Teehankee, 2002, 2012a)…

At the supermarket, we often buy things that go together—pasta and spaghetti sauce, beer and chips, ice cream and cones, and so on. Certain pairs or sets of items are frequently bought together in the same basket or cart, be it physical or virtual. Using big data analysis, online retailers like Amazon.com exploit these relationships in their recommendation engines, based on items that are “frequently bought together” and those characterized as “customers who bought this item also bought”. Looking for relationships between pairs or sets of items that tend to be purchased together is a data mining technique known as market basket analysis. While many factors drive consumer decisions, this method of analysis reveals common patterns of consumption by aggregating purchase data of millions of customers. Aside from the retail setting, market basket analysis is being used to uncover patterns and associations in events such as voting and elections. For instance, an examination of voting patterns in the House of Representatives of the United States showed how representatives are more likely to vote for or against specific issues based on to their political party (Bagui, Mink, and Cash, 2007). In the same manner, the technique has been utilized to highlight connections among an individual’s age, residence, political views, race, and TV viewing habits using election survey data in the U.S. (MacDougall, 2003)…

The Constitutional Convention that drafted the 1935 Constitution was overtly partial to the American constitutional structure. Hence, the decision to adopt a unitary form of government instead of a federal arrangement akin to the United States was unsurprising…

Copied in capital cities around the world in 2011, the Occupy Wall Street Movement reflected the rising concern among the youth about the global pattern of economic growth perceived as benefitting mainly the already affluent 1%. In many countries, including the Philippines, inclusive growth has become the mantra for leaders increasingly convinced that economic progress cannot be sustainable without the more equitable sharing of economic gains…

Young people have often been a force for political and economic transformations. History is fraught with narratives of young people fanning the flames of widespread dissent, propagating ideas of democracy and freedoms, mobilizing fellow youth in the overthrow of tyrant-led regimes, and recently, transforming social networks and technology into forces of good in various communities and causes…

Since the 1970s, overseas labor migration has been an indispensable component in the development of the Philippines. The emergence of what some scholars refer to as a remittance economy has meant that overseas workers have come to play a crucial role, not only in sustaining the economy of their households, but that of the nation as a whole. It thus comes as no surprise that they also hold the potential for contributing to on-going programs of developmental growth and political reform. Given the emergent political and long-standing economic significance of migrant Filipino laborers, it is essential that the Philippine state provide for their economic and social welfare. It is particularly important for state agencies to attend to the urgent needs of those workers who are most vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. This paper seeks to put forth some recommendations for safeguarding the well-being of these workers.

“We are forging a system of fairness… where true competition leads to opportunity and widespread progress,” declared President Benigno S. Aquino III in his State of the Nation Address on July 28, 2014. Four years earlier, in his first SONA, he had articulated government’s policy on competition: “Our Constitution mandates government to ensure that the market is fair for all—no monopolies, no cartels that kill competition. We need an Anti-Trust Law that will give life to these principles, and give small- and medium-scale enterprises the chance to participate in the growth of our economy”…

The study of democracy shows the role of the press in the governance of a society or nation. It has been called the “fourth pillar” of the republican system, which has executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. This role involves checking the exercise and possible abuse of those who hold both political and economic power…

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is the only Philippine government agency that the Social Weather Station (SWS) has continually ranked as either “very bad” or “execrable” (the bottom of the rankings) for the past decade. In fact, the Asian Development Bank (ADB, 2007) characterizes smuggling in the Philippines as pervasive and abetted by corrupt individuals. Recent analysis by the Citizens’ Customs Action Network (CITIZCAN) finds that, historically, up to 40 centavos for every 1 peso of tax revenue is siphoned by corruption in the BOC…

The following section is included:

• About the Authors