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1. a. PHILIPPINE POLITICS - Abp. Oscar. V. Cruz, DD

Views and Points
PHILIPPINE Politics is curious and intriguing, interesting and entertaining
and particularly detestable as well as disgusting. Philippine politics is not
simply for the vicious but also for the avaricious, not merely for those
wanting to serve but the more so, for those wanting to be served much and
well. Philippine politics is the origin of wonderful promises and as well as the
cause of big disappointments productive of misery and poverty.
Philippine Politics is not simply the purveyor of hope but likewise the cause of
despair. It is the jumping board of gross graft and corrupt practices instead of
a response to the call of what is right, proper, and just. Philippine politics is
anything but admirable even for those harboring optimismif not
hallucination. Would that it were otherwise. And would that following
thoughts and impressions were but in the realm of fallacy:
It is a great business. While there are exceptions, most, however, enter the
sphere of Philippine politics not really to render public service but to
ascertain fast and fruitful self-service. This is precisely why it is very much
worth making all the required capital investments in seeking elective public
office whereas politics in the Philippine is a very profitable investment. Poor
Filipino politicians are a rare breed. They are the picture of few small needles
in a huge haystack.
It is a distinctly advantageous way of life. Philippine politics is not only a
convenient and advantageous way of making a living. It is also a highly
profitable means of livelihood. This is why it is primarily the wealthy who
aspire for, who hold on and cling to political positions. They have many
family interests to protect, a good number of clan concerns to promote.
Politicians need only talk much and act welland the beneficial returns are
many and spectacular.
It is an addictive adventure. It is not true that the maxim Once a boy scout,
always a boy scout, is an exclusive claim and principle of scouting. There is
the living and vibrant reality that once a politician, always a politician.
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain the so-called political dynasties.
How true it is that Philippine politics is very addictive indeed. Husband and
wife and kid, father and son and daughter etc. etc. all in politicsthese are
but few examples of the living proofs that politics is addictive.
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Would that Filipino politicians think of and work for the countrynot for
themselves! Would that they dedicate themselves to the socio-economic
development of the Philippinesnot that of their family and clan! Would that
Philippine politics be for the public welfare and the common goodnot for
dynastic well-being and progress!
The People of the Philippines can dream, cant they?

b. Christopher Ryan Maboloc , Philippine Daily Inquirer:

In times of great evil, we are often reminded of Epicurus who famously
questioned the notion of an omnipotent God. Epicurus argued: If God is
unable to prevent evil, then he is not all-powerful; if God is not willing to
prevent evil, then he is not all-good; and if God is both willing and able to
prevent evil, then why does it exist?
Indeed, the answer is that if God designed a perfect world for each one of us,
then there would be no value to human freedom. Precisely, we have to learn
from our mistakes, suffer from the consequences of ill-fated decisions, but
most important of all, the reflexive attitude toward human action means we
must not commit the same mistake over and over again.
This, however, is not true in the realm of Philippine politics. Our political
leaders are still in their usual intramural debates and politically motivated
legislative investigations. In 2010 we saw President Aquino as some silver
bullet delivered from above, thanks to the death of a democracy icon, yet
what we have seen so far is that the job of cleaning the terrible mess of
corruption is next to impossible. The issue of the Disbursement Acceleration
Program only showed that he also fell into the indispensable necessity of
party politics.
The difference between Third World politics and First World politics is not
really in the efficiency or the scientific way developed countries do things.
The difference is more fundamental. Mature democracies determine the fate
of their country on the basis of political principles. The formula we are using
is like the one filmmakers use in their movies, and that is: Some superhero
will save the day for all of us. We think that there is some superhuman who
will finally bridge the gap between rich and poor.

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Theorists in this country talk about all-inclusive growth, yet one government
think tank is recommending relaxing minimum-wage regulations in order to
solve the high rate of unemployment. That suggestion is not even a Band-Aid
solution; it simply hides the real problem by artificially improving
employment numbers. People do not need just jobs. People need jobs that
are sustainable, that will give them the capability to send their children to
school and to afford healthcare.
The rumor that Manuel V. Pangilinan will supposedly bankroll the presidential
campaign of Vice President Jejomar Binay is not at all good news. It means
simply, if confirmed, the marriage of business and politics. While both camps
deny it, it is nevertheless a matter of fact that politicians get their campaign
kitty from corporate patrons. The reason is simple: Businessmen expect
returns.
The difference between public service and business needs no further
explaining. In the corporate world, you hire the brightest and weed out the
incompetent. In electing people to public office, everything will depend on
the decision of the majority. While the right of suffrage is an equalizer, a vote
is always counted as one regardless of the voters IQ. The reality, however, is
that new forms of control, subtle and obvious, are employed by cunning
politicians in order to influence voters. There are many examples. There is no
need to mention one.
A politics based on personalities is the root cause of all evil. But I suppose
this is not something that God willed for the Filipino people. We can point to
history, culture and tradition as to why the future of our children has been
compromised. Some of our intelligent legislators are even proposing useless
bills in Congress. There are good bills, though, like those that are intended to
enhance the role of the middle class by easing the burden of income
taxation.
In the Philippines, politics is always about the glamour of public office.
Marriage proposals take more space in social media than the achievement of
a teacher who has committed his life to serving the children in tribal
communities. The facts are glaring. Dynasties in the South have stifled
human development. The poorest provinces are ruled by pseudo-kings.
Many bright academicians feel that politics is nothing but a chaotic
phantasmagoria. For them, it is a hopeless case. Those who say that there is
a light at the end of the tunnel are actually outside of it. They want nothing
about political engagements. The poor, in this regard, have two problems:
Many good men who refuse to get involved in designing a better country for
our children, and plenty of evil politicians who continue to bully their way
into the future of this nation by way of political machinations.
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In 2010, I put a lot of faith in President Aquino. I was wrong. It was a mistake.
A mistake cannot be undone. However, while the courage to be is still
preferred over falling into the abyss of despair, I suppose we have to change
the way we see things. We have to encourage civil society to heighten
discussions of public issues rather than recommend political heroes. The face
of Philippine politics has not changed. Not because we still have the same
maniacal leaders in office, but because many Filipinos have remained in the
dungeons of human poverty.
Christopher Ryan Maboloc teaches philosophy at the Ateneo de Davao
University.

Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/78473/the-face-of-philippinepolitics#ixzz3U3X8Zlul

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2.Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KeQicCAUis
http://www.democracy-building.info/switzerlands-political-system.html
Switzerland No. 1 Best Governed Country in the World (2014)
Switzerland's Political System
Direct Democracy
It is astonishing how little the rest of the world knows about the way
Switzerland runs its politics. Even its next-door neighbors in Europe, though
vaguely aware that it is a deeply decentralized country, do not really
understand the other, more important part of the Swiss system -- the part
that could turn out to be a model for everybody's 21st century democracy.
Brian Beedham, United Press International, in a book review on Gregory
Fossedal's The road to full democracy.
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Switzerland is a small country located in the heart of western Europe, at the

intersection of German, French and Italian language and culture. Switzerland
has beenmulticultural in its own way for centuries. Democracy and Direct
Democracy in particular, has a long, but not undisputed tradition in this
country. Switzerland's unique political system is today world's most stable
democratic system, offering a maximum of participation to citizens.
Switzerland's Direct Democracy is not the result of pure tradition and
harmonic development, however. Much to the contrary, the very basics
(decentralisation of power) and the unique instruments of Direct
Democracy (frequent referendums and popular initiative) have been
established through hard political struggle, including a violent Revolution in
1798, decades of rioting (1830's and 1840's: the term putsch for a violent
overthrow of government is one of the few Swiss German dialect words that
have been adopted in a large number of foreign languages ...) culminating in
a short civil war in 1847.
Basic Features of Switzerland's Political System

Switzerland is a Confederation of 26 cantons. The cantons [member

states of the federation] do enjoy quite some autonomy.

Governments, parliaments and courts on 3 levels:

- federal
- cantonal
- communal
small villages have reunions of all citizens instead of parliaments,
local courts are common to several communities

Two features of Direct Democracy grant an unusually detailed level

of participation to ordinary citizens:
Popular Initiative:
Ordinary citizens may propose changes to the constitution, if they can
find a number of supporters (100,000 out of about 3,500,000 voters,
smaller numbers on cantonal and communal level).
The parliament will discuss the proposals, probably set up an
alternative and afterwards all citizens may decide in a referendum
whether to accept the original initiative, the alternate parliamentary
proposal or to leave the constitution unchanged.
Common Features
Shared with other Democratic Political Systems

All democratic political systems share the separation of powers

(independence of government/administration, parliament (legislation) and
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courts of justice). Several political parties compete with each other to

propose solutions to the country's problems.
The federal system is not mandatory for a democracy, but it can be found in
many other countries like the U.S.A., Germany, Austria etc.
In other words: most aspects of Switzerland's political system are just normal
features of a modern democracy.
Exclusive Features
of Switzerland's Political System
The two chambers of Switzerland's national parliament meet several times
annually to sessions during several weeks and between them to preparing
meetings in numerous commissions. But being member of parliament is not
a full time job in Switzerland, contrary to most other countries today. This
means that members of parliament have to practise an ordinary profession
to earn their living - thereby they are closer to everyday life of their
electorate.
The really remarkable thing about Switzerland's political system is Direct
Democracy: the extraordinary amount of participation in the political process
that is granted to ordinary citizens. In other words: it is not the mere
existence of direct democratic instruments (federalism is widespread and
referendums are not completely unknown to other democratic systems) but
rather the frequent use of them, not only as encouraged by Switzerland's
Constitution, but as practised with enthusiasm by the citizens. Frequent
referendums do have a stabilizing influence on parliament, government,
economy and society:

Referendums will increase the willingness to compromise (otherwise a

party defeated in parliament will call for a referendum).
This effect is not so strong, however, as we see from the fact that there
are several non-mandatory referendums in Switzerland every year (and
even some successful ones leaving the uncompromising majority and
the goverment in the rain) despite the fact that every politician should
know and "fear" them ...

Referendums favour big coalitions:

Shared power motivates compromise, exclusion from power motivates
obstructive referendums.

Referendums increase stability:

As extreme laws will mercilessly be blocked by the electorate in
referendums, parties are less inclined to radical changes in laws and
voters are less inclined to call for fundamental changes in elections.
There is no need to dismiss the government after a lost referendum,
because the referendum solves the problem - preventing an extreme

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law - more efficiently and also more precisely: On the very same day,
three new laws may be accepted and two others rejected.

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