Val Anthony V.

Balagon PolSci 51 July 18, 2017

1. Why is the Philippine Government System a fusion of the East and West?

The Philippines is located in the East, however there are so much influences that have been

contracted from the West. Historically, the Philippines was influenced by the political systems by

our Eastern neighbors long before the colonization by the Spaniards and the Americans. In fact,

the earliest political system was in the form of small communities called a barangay. The head of

a barangay is called a Datu. At that time the, the early Filipinos already engaged in trade with

their Asian neighbors. When the Spaniards colonized the Philippines for three hundred years, the

Filipinos were heavily influenced by European culture, thought, and ideals. In the late 19th century,

middle-class Filipinos studying abroad in Europe were deeply influenced with European

liberalism. With continuous oppression by the Spaniards, the Filipinos rebelled. After the

declaration of independence on June 12, 1898, this forced General Emilio Aguinaldo to form a

government complete with a constitution. Thus, the Malolos Constitution was born January 21,

1899. As the Spaniards were overthrown by American and Filipino forces, this led to the formation

of a constitution centered and based on Western ideals. The Malolos Constitution was written in

Spanish and was eventually translated to Filipino later on. The Malolos Constitution was shaped

and influenced by other constitutions from countries, mostly from the West. Constitutions that

influenced the Malolos Constitution were: the 1812 Spanish Constitution (considered to be the

most liberal constitution at that time), the French Constitution of 1793, as well as other

constitutions from other countries that share almost the same setting as the Philippines like Brazil,

Mexico, Nicaragua, and other Latin American countries. When the Americans colonized the

Philippines, they also brought upon cultural revolution in the Philippines. The Filipinos got to
enjoy education, women enjoyed the right to exercise suffrage, people simply had more freedom

in their hands. The next constitution is the Commonwealth Constitution of 1935. Ratified on

March 25, 1935 by American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the constitution was modelled

purely on the American Constitution and was used by the Commonwealth of the Philippines. And

once again, the constitution was based upon Western thought and ideals. After the occupation of

the Japanese, the Philippines was granted the promise of independence by the Americans on July

4, 1946. Despite independence, influences from other countries continue to persist. The political

climate and structure of the Philippines is deeply tied with culture and history. Historically, the

Philippines had influence from East and West thus culminating to a political system with a mixture

of ideologies.

References:

Agoncillo, T. A., & Alfonso, O. M. (1969). History of the Filipino people. Malaya Books.
2. Differentiate the state from the political systems as unit of analysis for Political Science

studies.

Units of analysis are utilized by political scientists as a means of analysis in an effort to de-

complexify the complex world of politics. As a unit of analysis, the state-level analysis mainly

concentrates on the characteristics of a certain state that would help explain the political behavior

of such state. Each state is believed to be unique. Topics of interest in this level of analysis are

the states history, culture, political ideology, economy, and interest groups. Individuals like a

particular politician are irrelevant to the state-level of analysis. The political-system level of

analysis refers to an analysis of a collection of states and aims to analyze political interaction

between the states. Topics of interest are the states economic capabilities (its GDP), military

strength, power in a region, and the interrelationships between states.

References:

Webber (n.d.). Levels of Analysis in International Relations. Retrieved from

http://my.ilstu.edu/~jawebbe/Levels%20of%20Analysis%20in%20International%20Relations%5

B1%5D.htm

Levels of Analysis (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www2.fiu.edu/~milch002/CPO3643/outlines/levels.htm