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Voter Behaviour

The document discusses factors that influence voter behavior and elections in the Philippines. Some of the key factors that determine a Filipino voter's candidate choice include the candidate's image as a public servant, their political machinery, popularity, and endorsements from families, churches and organizations. Patronage politics and utang na loob culture also influence voters to support candidates who can provide future favors or help. High spending on campaigns, attack ads, and vote buying further impact elections by making it difficult for less wealthy candidates to compete.

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Shyra Vargas
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59 views

Voter Behaviour

The document discusses factors that influence voter behavior and elections in the Philippines. Some of the key factors that determine a Filipino voter's candidate choice include the candidate's image as a public servant, their political machinery, popularity, and endorsements from families, churches and organizations. Patronage politics and utang na loob culture also influence voters to support candidates who can provide future favors or help. High spending on campaigns, attack ads, and vote buying further impact elections by making it difficult for less wealthy candidates to compete.

Uploaded by

Shyra Vargas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Philippines is a republican and democratic state.

The constitution provides the


basic right of suffrage, and recognizes the people as the only source from which
sovereignty and all government power come from

VI. Voter Behavior and Elections


 A 2003 IPER update study on voter behavior suggest the top four factors
determining the
vote of Filipino electorate:
1. candidate’s public servant image;
2. political machinery;
3. candidate’s popularity; and
4. endorsement of a traditional network and organizations which include the family,
the church, the ward leaders, and formal groups and associations.
 According to the March 2004 Pulse Asia Survey, the youth do not differ from
other age groups in their desired traits for a national leader (top traits were: pro-
poor, is knowledgeable and has experience in management of government,
trustworthy, can enforce the law equally for influential and ordinary people, prays
often to God, godly, sincere, and fights anomalies in government).
 In March 2007, Pulse Asia conducted the same survey, with the following results
as the most important characteristics that a national leader should posses: hard
working, relates well to others, can give hope to most Filipinos, has integrity and a
good reputation, produces good results, announces his/her stand on important
issues and his/her proposed programs.
 Furthermore, it has been reported that about 79% to 90% of registered voters
below 55 years old were aware of political ads in 2004 and with a slight increase to
88% to 94% in 2007.
 The conduct of elections is made complex by the practices and values, which in
turn are reflective of the behavior and attitudes of the electorate and the politicians
and of the actual
practices before, during and after elections. Further, voter behavior reflects the
personalistic and patronage orientation of traditional Filipino politics or “trapo”.
 Patronage politics thrive in a culture where the government leader becomes a
politician who serves as a patron accommodating special favors to dole out money or
provide jobs, recommendations and contracts to only a few in exchange for votes in
the succeeding elections or support for a political agenda.
 A common element of patronage culture is utang na loob. The powers-that-be use
this to ensure that their political and economic interests will be served. For instance,
a “powerful” politician may invite a candidate to run under his political party and in
return, the candidate will feel indebted and eventually feel pressured to support the
political agenda of his benefactor (even if he is opposed to said agenda).
 For the poor, giving their support to a candidate is seen as an investment so that
they can depend on the politician for help, e.g. donations, medicine, school fees.
Campaign supporters view their help as a personal favor that the elected official
should perceive as utang na loob. In return, they expect the official to accept personal
invitations from their 14 organizations, to comply with personal requests for
donations, to award them perhaps with a government position upon electoral
victory.
 In preparation for a coming election, people with plans of running for public
office would be seen attending public functions from the barangay (community) to
the provincial level. For constituents at the national level, candidates engage
themselves in media exposure.
 Conversely, voting has always been determined by popularity of the candidate
and financial and party machinery, which enhances the popularity of a candidate.
Elections now become a high-spending process to the detriment of the candidates
who have neither the financial resources nor the machinery, which can provide for
posters and airtime in mass media.
 Consequently, the electoral system becomes bereft of the real issues affecting the
electorate. Venues to seriously discuss programs of action and performances of
candidates become less relevant in determining who gets elected to office.
 The traditional guns, goons, and gold element of Filipino politics continue to be a
real phenomenon in certain districts, provinces, and regions particularly at the local
level.
 Massive election fraud and violence are employed in order to win elections.
Instances of cheating range from use of flying voters, registration of disqualified
voters, vote-buying, ballot and ballot box switching, padding of votes through
dagdag bawas and other forms, tampering the canvass of votes, etc. Again, these
practices become more detrimental to candidates who have neither the financial nor
political machinery to guard the integrity of the votes and election results. However,
the most powerful safeguard against election fraud is the awareness and vigilance of
every voter.
 Voters tend to be responsive to audio-visual tools and experiential discussions in
voters’ education forums. Recipients of voter education programs become more
socially aware and are able to realize their stake in the electoral process.
 There is a general observation by voters’ education trainors/educators that voters
are seemingly more intelligent and critical now, but their motivations remain highly
incentivedriven (What will be their personal gain in voting for this person? It may
not exactly be a monetary value, but as earlier stated, voters tend to go for someone
who has the economic power to aid them in whatever means possible).

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