A Study Of The Political Transformation Of Political Parties In The Philippines Since 1946

Since independence in 1946,party politics in the Philippines has evolved from two-party politics to one-party dominance to multiparty politics.Over 70 years of party politics has been a bumpy and difficult road.Based on this political reality,the questions raised in this paper are: What is the transformation logic of party politics in the Philippines after independence? What are the similarities and differences between the two major transformations?This paper firstly composes and defines the core concepts and theoretical foundations involved,and forms a logical framework for the analysis of institutional change on this basis.Second,we introduce the rational choice institutionalism theory of institutional change,combine equilibrium analysis,cost-benefit analysis,and evolutionary game analysis,and construct a holistic analytical framework of "macro-external environment-medium-level institutional arrangements-micro-actors" with rational actors as the core.This framework not only analyzes the reasons for the emergence of the initial party system in the Philippines,but also examines the logic of the two transformations of Philippine party politics in three aspects: the causes,processes,and outcomes of the transformations.The paper finds that changes in the external conditions of the Philippine economy,society,and the international environment induce an imbalance in the interests of the old institutional structure,and under this imbalance,some rational actors perceive that it is "profitable" to push for institutional change and thus become willing to change.In order to internalize the potential profit,the relevant actors choose to form an alliance or compete around their respective interests.After mobilization,actors with asymmetric power and mutual confrontation enter the asymmetric dynamic game stage.In order to pursue the maximum benefit,rational actors will adjust the game strategy through cost-benefit calculation according to the change of the power comparison pattern in time.Subsequently,the strategy evolution and game results among the actors will lead to the creation of new institutional arrangements,and the transformation of party politics and the balance of interests will be achieved in the process of institutional design and implementation.However,when the external environment changes again,it will continue to break this equilibrium and induce rational actors to play the game of interests to promote the design and implementation of new institutions,thus achieving another round of institutional change in the new equilibrium.Therefore,the two major transformations in Philippine party politics are not only the result of rational choices of key actors,but also characterized by the cycle of "equilibrium-disequilibriumre-equilibrium".Finally,through a comparative study of the two transformation processes of Philippine party politics,it is found that there are differences between the two transformations in transformation mode and transformation content,but the two transformation processes both reflect the dependence on the United States,the self-reinforcing informal system and the low institutionalization level of the party system.After the diachronic and synchronic analysis of the Philippine party political transformation,it is found that the moderate multi-party system constructed after the second transformation will gradually show a fragmented trend due to the influence of the pluralism of political power structure and the tradition of patronage and servant.Therefore,in order to continue to maintain the institutional balance formed by multi-party governance,the current Philippine government should improve the ability to cope with changes in the external environment,improve the institutionalization level of the multi-party system,enhance the absorbability and inclusiveness of the current political system,maintain the balance between supply and demand of the system,so as to curb the dangerous factors of change.It provides a favorable political environment for political development and stable operation of party politics.