Constitutions, Democracy & Political Stability

Prof. Amado Mendoza, Jr.University of the Philippines

Scope & method of lecture

• General principles and theories on the inter-relationship between constitutions, democracy and political stability

• Concrete illustrations (some to be volunteered by members of RC 48, NDCP

• Discussion of practical problems• Q&A

Not limited to the Philippine constitution

• Five of the members of RC 48 are not from the Philippines– Nigeria is a federal presidential republic;

Philippines is a unitary presidential republic– Pakistan is an Islamic federal parliamentary

republic; Philippines is secular presidential republic

– Malaysia is federal, parliamentary, and elects its king

Caveats

• Not familiar with the constitutions of Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan

• Can only infer from general characteristics such as federal, parliamentary, constitutional monarchy

• I seek the help of the five foreign students to assist me with examples

What is a constitution?

• basic ‘formal’ rules of the political 'game'

• rules specify how rulers will be chosen and why people follow them

Political institutions (PIs)

• not all rules are written; there are informal rules

• determine how leadership is configured and how state authority is exercised

• circumscribe political actors; in weak states, formal rules rarely guide behaviour

Purposes of PIs

• To mitigate conflict and encourage cooperation (for mutual gain)

• Weapons of coercion and redistribution; winners write the rules; used by winners to pursue interests at the expense of losers

• Example: martial law

Rules define outcomes?

• Actors intuitively recognize PIs can have powerful bearing on policy outcomes

• Rules are particularly important in developing countries where ferment is greatest

• Key struggle: what rules will prevail?

Importance of constitutions

• They define the political game• Elections, not coups or insurrections• Basketball, not football; do not kick the ball;

dribble, pass and shoot!• Political rules provide predictability and

stability

Non-constitutional politics

• No specific ground rules• Unpredictable outcomes• Examples: people power, coups• Non-constitutional politics is irregular politics

or “CNN politics”

Authoritarian regimes

• Elections and constitutions do not make democratic regimes

• Elections are fair in democracies

• Elections are fair if all candidates have some chance of winning/losing

Authoritarian regimes

• Also have constitutions and elections– for legitimacy purposes– for venting of emotions of citizens– to administer or mediate political struggles among

elite factions

Key features of democratic constitutions

• bill of rights (inclusive)• separation of powers or functional separation of

governmental bodies• independent constitutional bodies• means for redress for individuals and groups• chief operative principle: rule of law

Elections: necessary but insufficient to ensure democracy

• Authoritarian regimes can hold elections• Procedural democracy vs. Substantive

democracy• Substantive democracy addresses contradiction

between political equality and economic inequality among citizens

• Restriction of choices in elections

Constitutions: necessary but insufficient to produce democracy

• Constitution may be democratic but are main elements implemented?

• Example: are elections reasonably fair and regular at the national and sub-national levels?

Characteristics of the state in democracies

• State capacity /Strength

• Only a strong and capable state can nourish and maintain a democracy

State capacity

• Ability of the state to formulate and implement strategies to achieve economic, political, and social goals

• Function of variables such as the state's fiscal resources, political autonomy, legitimacy, internal coherence, and responsiveness

State capacity as 2 kinds of power

• Despotic power: actions elites can do without routine negotiations with social actors

• Infrastructural power: the capacity to actually penetrate society and implement decisions throughout a polity

• Low capacity states rely on despotic power; cannot build effective state administrations & impose will over a fixed territory

Summation of state capacity

• Capacity to penetrate society• Capacity to extract resources from society• Capacity to be (or appear to be) legitimate• Capacity to manage conflict• Capacity to coordinate social efforts• Capacity to set and unite behind national

vision and program

The issue of legitimacy

• Legitimacy is the characteristic of being seen as having the right to rule

• Democratic states have electoral legitimacy• What if democratic states are non-performing?• How about authoritarian states like China and

Vietnam who can claim “performance legitimacy” because of sustained economic growth?

Importance of state capacity/strength

• Weak states cannot control other power centres which may be anti-democratic

• Nation-wide implementation of laws is impossible

• Weak states cannot raise adequate resources for public goods

• Ultimately, state legitimacy and democracy will be questioned

Davao and Duterte

• For the sake of argument (just for the sake of argument), let’s assume that Duterte orders his men to “salvage” addicts and other criminals

• Result: Davao City is a peaceful and nice place

• Question: does the end justify the means?

Issues with the Philippine constitution

• Amendment(s)

• Why are some constitutional provisions not enacted into law?

Charter change: methods

• Constitutional convention

• Congress as charter change body

• Piecemeal changes by enactment of laws

Charter change: scope

• Change in economic provisions: allow foreign ownership in land; lift restrictions on foreign participation in several economic activities

• Structure of government:– Presidential or parliamentary– Unitary or federal

Dead-letter constitutional provisions

• Example: Anti-political dynasty provision

• Never enacted into law

Summation of lecture

• Constitutions are necessary but insufficient conditions for democracy

• State characteristics are crucial• A rule of law culture is important: violators

must be punished in a demonstrable manner• However, we live in an imperfect world. How

do we improve an imperfect democracy?