A transitional democracy

GIUSEPPE MAZZINI, considered one of the important political agitators of the past century, in his most famous work, “The Duties of Man,” writes: “Education is the great word that sums up our whole doctrine. What we have to do is not to establish a new order of things by violence.”

A transitional or imperfect democracy is characterized by the fragility of its institutions and the dissatisfaction of the people with respect to the prevailing sociopolitical order. In our present scheme of things, the issues hampering the country are income inequality (or the lack of decent jobs) and the apparent absence of national solidarity. The first is simply a result of the noninclusive type of economic growth in the Philippines. The second can be traced to the problem of regionalism and the unresolved Bangsamoro issue. For instance, given the noninclusive nature of Philippine economic growth, the platform of continuity has not worked.

With the advent of social media, political activism is no longer limited to the streets. People from many walks of life, most especially our young professionals, now have greater influence in terms of amplifying political issues. The young have become a great source of rich philosophical commentaries and pleas for sociopolitical reform. Still, the problem is that our political parties have remained a nonfactor in our democracy, when from a theoretical and a practical point of view, political parties are supposed to be the heart and soul of political discourse.

Kristina Wesseinbach says that “political parties launch certain issues and discourse into civil society, providing the public with the possibility to discuss matters and form opinions.” But in the case of the Philippines, most people still view political parties and most politicians as untrustworthy.

Voters find great comfort and inspiration in Christian charity, but they do not see the value of political party affiliation. They are only inclined to glorify the personal attributes of a candidate, but not his or her political principles.

Wesseinbach correctly notes that “a fundamental role of political parties—in almost all democratic polities—is to motivate people to go to elections and participate in the electoral process.” Many Filipinos are politically active, but they have no sympathy for political parties. Politics in the country has remained personality-based and is wanting in terms of principles that catapult nations into progressive societies.

Perhaps, we can also point to the reality that we do not have a strong sense of nationhood. This has translated into voting based on wrong ideologies. Yet, given our situation, the desire for change can be used to inspire transformation in terms of mainstreaming the role of political parties, the hallmark of most modern states, in transitory democracies like the Philippines.

We have now seen the election to the Senate of a new breed of young leaders, Bam Aquino, Joel Villanueva and Sherwin Gatchalian. Whether they will be successful in helping dismantle “artificial hells on earth,” to use Victor Hugo’s word, will not depend on the number of laws they will be able to pass, but on the collective and discursive rationality of our age. Our good senators should always remember what their mandate truly means: “Forget not, never forget that you have promised to use this silver to become an honest man.”

The sustainability of democratic reforms will need a strong motivational basis. This can be anchored only in the idea of good citizenship. Beyond one’s right of suffrage, nation-building will require the meaningful involvement of every citizen in the state. Good citizenship, rooted in the pursuit of the common good, should be instrumental in making every Filipino politically informed. Unless the electorate realizes this vital element, all those social media wars will be pointless. Without the unity of a people, lasting social and political transformation will simply remain a farfetched proposition.

The success of democracy in any modern state will depend on the quality of knowledge and information possessed by its electorate. There cannot be real empowerment in a society that is ignorant of the basic role of civil society and its important function in holding all those in positions of power accountable. Political reform in the country can be realized only if active citizen participation is sustained. The key element is people empowerment. The presence of our democratic institutions must be felt in the margins of our society and by the most disadvantaged sectors.

Thus, to be able to truly gain ground, political parties must have a social impact, both in theory and in practice. For as long as millions of Filipinos wallow under the gutter and live in misery, dissent in whatever form will not be useless.

Christopher Ryan Maboloc is assistant professor of philosophy at Ateneo de Davao University. He has a master’s degree in applied ethics from Linkoping University in Sweden. He has trained in political party building in Germany under Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.