Democracy marches forward
The march of Democracy in the Philippines echoes the growth of popular rule in many parts of the world. From careful observation, one can trace the twists and turns that democracy has taken and today its latest metamorphosis can be termed 'rule of the people by manippulating the electoral process'. It can be remembered that after the Second World War elections in the Philippines were fraught with violence and intimidation. These were the times of the Political Warlords who succeeded in gaining the ballot by killing their rivals and the leaders of their rivals. Who had the most guns and goons would have the upper hand in coercing the vote from a hapless public. In many parts of the country this is still practiced but this has been tamed and elections nowadays are relatively bloodless.
The next phase was a little more benign. The ballot was no longer being stolen by the gun but greases with money.Vote-buying became the fad and winning an election became largely a matter of who could lay out the biggest budget per voter. Elections became very well-organized with buzzwords like, 'election machinery', 'coordinators' and 'ward leaders' being thrown back and forth to signify the campaign to win the vote. Needless to say, the politician who had the most money would inevitably win but upsets are not unheard of.
The succeeding stage showed great sophistication and ingenuity. When it became expensive and unpredictable to win an election simply by vote-buying, politicians resorted to 'vote-padding' or stuffing the ballot boxes with ballots already filled up by their campaign leaders.. This tactic would favor the incumbent politician or the one who could gain the loyalty of the people who were guarding the ballot boxes.
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The next phase was a little more benign. The ballot was no longer being stolen by the gun but greases with money.Vote-buying became the fad and winning an election became largely a matter of who could lay out the biggest budget per voter. Elections became very well-organized with buzzwords like, 'election machinery', 'coordinators' and 'ward leaders' being thrown back and forth to signify the campaign to win the vote. Needless to say, the politician who had the most money would inevitably win but upsets are not unheard of.
The succeeding stage showed great sophistication and ingenuity. When it became expensive and unpredictable to win an election simply by vote-buying, politicians resorted to 'vote-padding' or stuffing the ballot boxes with ballots already filled up by their campaign leaders.. This tactic would favor the incumbent politician or the one who could gain the loyalty of the people who were guarding the ballot boxes.
Cool blogs. Visit these pages:
posted by underdog | 4:27 AM
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