ucsp 6.2

• Political dynasty


  Families whose members are involved in politics, typically found in elite families that have established themselves in a province before moving on to the national government
• Political dynasties have long been present in the Philippine political structure
• Majority of the positions in the Philippine government are currently held by members of political dynasties
• There have been lots of debates regarding the effects of these dynasties on the sociopolitical and economic aspects of society
• Many are agreed that the predominance of political dynasties has resulted in higher levels of poverty and corruption
• How political dynasties can occur


  1. Members of a family occupy a certain government position in every term

  2. Several family members occupy government positions at the same time
• The 1987 Philippine Constitution: '"The state shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law."'
• Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code does not include any limitations in terms of family relations for local government officials
• Negative effects of political dynasties


  • Dynastic politicians have significant advantage from the start of their career, have a statistically higher probability to win elections, and have generally lower educational attainment
  • Dynasties restrict significant change to the system of the government unit and prevent new candidates from occupying new seats of power, leading to less new ideas and platforms
  • Dynasties have the advantage of continuity, the more control the family has over the government unit, the more members of the family can occupy positions of power
• Political alliance


  An agreement for cooperation between different political parties on common political agenda, often for purposes of contesting an election
• Coalition government


  Formed when a political alliance comes to power, or when only a plurality (not a majority) has been reached and several parties must work together to govern
• One of the peculiarities of a coalition government is having Cabinet Secretaries without Portfolio