It has been argued here and here that we the people must live with consequences of our vote, as if our duty as citizens begins and ends with casting the ballot. Some call this ‘electoral’ even ‘procedural’ democracy. Elections, along with an elaborate government bureaucracy, are taken as indicators of a democratic society. Our republican model, grafted onto us by an external power, entails electing people in government to ‘represent’ all of us.

We have been tinkering with our democratic experiment for decades and we have yet to arrive at a formula that works. On the surface we practice electoral democracy, but in essence our polity is anything but democratic. I argue that this is because the process of so-called ‘representation’ is top-down rather than bottom-up.

Ideally citizens, all 90 or so million of us, should be able to articulate to our ‘representatives’ our views on different issues of governance. We of the class with a voice have only to reflect on our own lives to come to the conclusion that we have let our so-called representatives get away with murder. And not for lack of capability for discernment or even resources. I submit that our class has fallen short of vision, ambition and an awareness that extends beyond our little enclaves. We have yet to outgrow our tribe mentality. We have yet to fulfill our historic role in giving birth to a nation.

Those of us who have the luxury of agonizing over these matters are a minority vis-à-vis the rest of the population. And throughout the decades our ranks have thinned. The flaw in our electoral democracy lies in the lack of capability of ordinary citizens to subject public institutions, such as Congress, and the individuals who people them, to popular control. For example, the ordinary citizen will be too preoccupied with putting food on the table to properly digest the finer points of the farcical debate last night on House Resolution 1109. This is to say that a citizen’s engagement in our democratic experiment is a luxury when it shouldn’t be. To live decently is a luxury in this country.

When we of the class with a voice exercise equal electoral power with the classes without, we deplore that they have elected the likes of Joseph Estrada. We are offended that they should sell their vote without ceremony. It seems to me the solution to this dilemma is clear if not easy – create conditions in which citizens will not have to sell their votes because – they are in desperate need of cash and because they do not realize the sanctity of the vote for lack of education. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform with Extensions bill, as well as the Reproductive Health bill are legal measures from which the ordinary Filipino – farmers and others in the agrarian sector, and poor families – might benefit. Indirectly, the entire nation also benefits in terms of food security and a healthy population.

A democracy that hews as closely to the ideal believes that every single person matters. If we as a people do not genuinely believe this, then we have no business pretending to be democratic. We deserve what results from the alignment of autocratic forces among our political elites.

While intellectually I understand the character of our polity, there is nothing like seeing its dynamics up close and personal. What awesome monster have we let loose? Last night I saw a House of Representatives that was only representing their own interests. The resolution that was set to convene a constituent assembly and change the constitution did not undergo deliberations in the committee level. Nor were there consultations held among constituencies. Last night, Rep Maza reiterated that only 66, or a third of the districts, submitted their consultation reports to the committee on constitutional amendments. Which means two-thirds of these districts were not at all asked whether they were for or against the resolution?

There were other “rules” put forth by opposition reps last night, one such rule was that a vote could not be called until after a speech in favor of and against the measure have been made. There were thirteen congressmen lined up to interpellate the sponsors of the bill, but only two were allowed time for substantive questioning. Clearly what happened was not a deliberation of an important measure – one that could very well change our trajectory as a nation, writ whole, and also our individual lives. What happened was an awesome display of the consolidation of forces that are not remotely interested in what you and I have to say.

Democracy is dying in the Philippines. What will you do about it?

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