According to a new report from the Philippine Observatory on Democracy (POD), a consortium composed of different Ateneo schools and partner institutions, voter turnout in the Philippines is high but civic engagement tends to drop after voting.
A total of eight out of 10 urban Filipinos said that they voted in presidential elections, which is a notably high figure. Meanwhile, six out of10 people will discuss politics with their families, the study found.
Participation dipped even further when it came to attending local meetings and engaging with community issues, where only 4 out of 10 urban Filipinos doing so.
Furthermore, 3 in 10 Filipinos say they don’t feel a sense of belonging in their communities, resulting in them not taking part in local activities.
The findings of the study suggests that democracy is more linked to one-time elections rather than long-term civic engagement. “Deliberative democracy entails the engagement of people as equals in shaping policies that affect their lives. Without such dialogue, meaningful political engagement and accountability weaken. Thus, a narrow focus on elections in political participation among urban Filipinos may be concerning,” the report said.
Figuring out how to increase civic engagement and make our democracy even more vibrant should come with many benefits. The most significant being the fact that an engaged population is more critical and watchful of the plans and actions of public officials and leaders, who will have to follow up successful campaigns with actual performance during their term of service. Other benefits include future leaders being discovered, as those who engage most are usually noticed and are asked to step up.
A government, civil society, and the private sector that can find the ways and means to sustainably keep the population engaged in what should be the collective task of governance will be able to build a better nation if we can get more of our countrymen involved, instead of being content with simply casting their votes on Election Day and then complaining on social media instead of engaging with public officials as they do their jobs.*
