Constitutions, Democracy &
Political Stability
Prof. Amado Mendoza, Jr.
University of the Philippines
Scope & method of lecture
• General principles and theories on the interrelationship 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
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•
•
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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
•
•
•
•
•
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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 nonperforming?
• 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?