Organizer and Chair: Gary Hawes, Ford Foundation, Philippines
Discussant: J. R. Nereus O. Acosta, Xavier University
Perhaps nowhere else in the world has decentralization of the political system proceeded as rapidly as in the Philippines. This panel will explore the nature of the decentralization program, what it means in historical terms, what has been its impact on local politics, and what this model implies for the rest of Southeast Asia.
Each author will address the Local Government Code of 1991 and assess the impact of the Code in either historical or comparative terms. The goal will be to analyze both the theoretical and the practical implications of the truly dramatic changes which are currently underway in the Philippines.
In the short span of four years, 70,000 national government employees have been devolved; the share of the national tax revenues which are allocated directly to local government units has increased from 11 percent of the total to 40 percent, and local governments have gained significant new control over the planning process and the resources found within the boundaries of the local government unit.
As international financial institutions and binational donors increase the pressure on developing nations to liberalize, democratize, privatize, and decentralize, it is important to understand what has been the experience of places such as the Philippines. To make the Philippine case as accessible as possible to scholars of other countries and regions, each paper presented on this panel will be placed in theoretical and comparative contexts that address broader regional concerns.
Decentralizing Democracy: Central-Local Government Relations in the Philippines
After Authoritarianism
Emil P. Bolongaita, Jr., Asian Institute of Management
The growing literature on transitions from authoritarianism and consolidation of democracies includes studies on the impact of political institutions on democratization. The political institutions often analyzed are executive-legislative interactions, electoral laws, and parties and party systems. These analyses, however, often overlook an important institutional arrangement that also affects democratization, namely central-local government relations.
Since the collapse of the Marcos authoritarian regime, the Philippines has undergone unprecedented changes in central-local government relations. Among the most significant changes has been the recent decentralization of central government responsibilities and resources to local governments. Unlike previous decentralization attempts that devolved authority sans resources, this recent decentralization was accompanied by a substantial devolution of revenues and resources.
In theory, because local governments have been given more powers and resources than before, there should be less dependence of local governments on the central government. In the same vein, because of decentralization, there should be less dependence of local political bosses on central political patrons. This paper analyzes to what extent this theory holds true in practice. Where, when, and how has contemporary decentralization made an impact on central-local government relations? What has been the impact of changing central-local government relations on democratization itself? This paper explores these issues within the context of other political factors, particularly the role of presidential-congressional relations, electoral laws, and parties and party politics.
Imperial Manila? Assessing Central-Local Government Relations in the American
Colonial Period
Paul D. Hutchcroft, University of Wisconsin, Madison
As the Philippines undertakes a major program of devolution in the 1990s-seeking to provide greater levels of authority and responsibility to local government units-proponents commonly assert that the Philippine polity has historically been "overcentralized." This paper seeks to examine the relationship between Manila and the provinces in greater detail, beginning with the genesis of the modern governing structure in the Taft era (1900-1913) and proceeding through important alterations in central-local relations under President Quezon in the Commonwealth years (1935-1941). It will analyze variations in the degree of centralization versus decentralization across time, and seek to differentiate the formal structure of central-local government relations in the administrative sphere from more informal ties that exist in the sphere of actual politics. Within each sphere, it will be argued, the degree of centralization versus decentralization varies considerably from one period to another. Clearer analysis of the complex nature of relations between Manila and the provinces in the American colonial period, I will conclude, provides insights highly relevant to the current experience with devolution.
The "Last Hurrah" Revisited: Local Bosses, Dynasties, and Machines in
the Philippines in the 1990s
John Thayer Sidel, SOAS, University of London
This paper examines the impact of economic, institutional, and societal change upon local "bossism" in the Philippines in the 1990s. The paper begins with a discussion of the underlying bases of boss power-proprietary wealth and the discretionary powers that accompany state office-and a typology of bossism's manifold local variations. Drawing largely but not exclusively upon research in the provinces of Cavite and Cebu, the subsequent analysis treats the changing landscape in which the local bosses, dynasties, and machines have risen, flourished, and fallen in the 1990s. Special emphasis is placed not only upon institutional developments since the mid-1980s, such as the restoration of regular and competitive elections for the legislature and local executive offices and the enactment of the Local Government Code, but also upon recent economic and societal changes, such as the inflow of foreign investment and the onset of industrialization in a number of Philippine provinces. These key trends, the paper argues, underlay an important ongoing sea change in the evolution-but not extinction-of bossism in the Philippines.
Local Politics in a Decentralized System: The Structural Impact of the 1991 Local
Government Code in the Philippines
Gary Hawes, Ford Foundation, Philippines
Post-war Philippine politics has traditionally been explained using a patron-client model. This model is based on a hierarchical organization of the political system and highly unequal control over the material resources necessary to win electoral office. Control of office, in turn, has been considered an opportunity to reward friends and followers, and to generate the resources necessary to win the next election.
For some time, this model has been under attack as the Philippines urbanizes and industrializes, and as voters gain greater access to education and better information brought about by modern print and electronic media. Now a dramatic change in inter-governmental relations is further breaking down the clientelistic basis of Philippine politics. Most notably, control over a major share of the total government revenues has been shifted directly to local government units, and the legal authority to control natural resources and the path to local development also has been devolved.
While changes in political culture may lag behind the changes in governmental structure, we can begin to identify the impact of the local government code on patron-client ties. This paper will analyze this impact and document the emergence of new political attitudes by voters and "new" political elites in the areas outside of Manila. The paper concludes by exploring the theoretical implications of decentralization and devolution, as well as the importance of this model for other Southeast Asian governments.