STRONG PATRONAGE, WEAK PARTIES: The Case for Electoral System Redesign in the Philippines

The current combination of electoral systems in the Philippines essentially guarantees the perpetuation of weak and incoherent political parties. As long as parties are weak and lacking in coherence, the primary focus of political contention is much more likely to be on patronage and pork than on policies and programs. As political reformers seek to address these fundamental problems of the Philippine polity, there is no better place to start than through a well-constructed set of changes t...