Political dynasties refer to the succession of political power within families over multiple generations occupying governing positions. Some prominent Philippine political dynasties are the Aquinos, Marcoses, Duterte's, and Binays. Statistics show that around 70% of Congress and 85% of city and province leaders come from political dynasties. Critics argue that dynasties prevent changes and new ideas by limiting candidates and can lead to corruption, violence, and empty promises to manipulate voters, especially in poorer areas. However, dynasties may also pursue longer-term development since family members expect to remain in power. The impacts of dynasties are complex and depend on individual leaders and whether a locality needs change or continuity.

2.  Political Dynasty refers to the succession of Political
Power by individuals belonging from the same
heritage or multiple members of the same family
occupying different positions in the governing sector
of a province/city. They are typically found in elite
families that have established themselves in a
province/city.
 Some prominent families that are known to have their
own Political Dynasties are Aquino’s (Tarlac), Marcos’
(Ilocos), Duterte’s (Davao), Binay’s (Makati).

3. Some Trivia
 According to Statistics, at least 70% of the Philippine
Congress come from Dynasties
 At least 85% of the cities and provinces within the
country are ran by Dynasties.

4. Anti-Political Party System
Elections have formalized the process of political
succession through a periodic democratic exercise
which can be easily manipulated for selfish ends. Elite
rule is legitimized through this process by giving the
illusion that the public has the power to choose its
leaders, even though the pool of electable candidates
is generally limited to a set of individuals with familiar
surnames.

5. Abuse of Power, Political Violence
and Corruption
If one challenged the authority of the current ruler and
actually pose a risk in his rule, the ruler may resort to
violence in order to get the situation under his control,
much like what happened in the Maguindanao
Massacre wherein the Mangudadatu’s challenged the
authority of the Ampatuan’s by filing a certificate of
candidacy for the upcoming elections.

6. Hinders Economic Progress via
Manipulation and Empty Promises
Unfortunately, the ones most vulnerable to
Manipulation are the ones who should be more
resilient, it has been backed by statistical evidence
that Political Dynasties seem to emerge where there is
greater poverty, as families can easily manipulate the
population through false advertisements and promises
that fall short once they have been elected.

7. A Deeper Look…

8. Negative
Political Dynasty restricts change in the current system
of government in a city, since Dynasties would rather
stick to tested and proven methods used by their
predecessors. That said, it prevents new candidates
from occupying a significant government position,
which means that there will be lesser ideas and
platforms to work with as well.

9. Positive
 As said before, Dynastic Politicians are more likely to
pursue development since they expect to stay in office
longer, which means that they can improve their
implemented platforms and potentially make it better.

10.  In the end, the effect of a Dynasty is entirely subjective. In
the former example, dynasties prevents change while in the
latter example it promotes development. You cant label
either as problematic immediately, as their problematic
effect depends on what the city currently needs, a change
in the current government system or development in its
pre-established structure, does the city need Diversity or
Continuity? Transformation or Improvement?
 There is also the case of individualism to consider, it
depends on the leader, or the Mayor of the city if him and
his entire family are all corrupt individuals. Then surely, a
Political Dynasty will have a negative impact in the city.

11. Causes of Political Dynasty
 Absence of an Anti-Dynasty Law.
 Gullibility of the Population.
 Vote Buying.
 Easily bypassed security measures.
 Government programs that can be used by local
governments to obtain money.

12. Thoughts
 If you think of Politics, you think of power, authority,
which is true, however, at the very core of it, is Public
Duty, it’s a sacrifice not a luxury, your job is to make
sure that the people are happy. Similar to Teachers or
even Psychologists, a Teacher choosed to become one
because of the feeling she gets when she knows that
her students learned something from her, or in a
Psychologist’s case, helped a client with their
problems.

13. If governance is a form of public duty, This in turn raises a
very important question, what is there in this position that
forces someone to spend a fortune just to secure that
position, or even assassinate someone to ensure he stays in
that position? Most critiques claim that it’s for business,
self-enrichment, a part of any elected official’s job is to
handle the cash of the city, now we have no problem with
that, since there is a system of legal requirements to ensure
that the money is used appropriately…BUT…It requires a
few honest people for the system to be successful. With
enough motivation and a little pixie dust these checks and
balances are pretty easy to bypass, which is another fault in
the system.

14.  What they are trying to say here is that, families
engage in politics because there is profit to be gained
in it. If we want to abolish Political Dynasties then we
should address the root problem (limiting profit). If
Corrupt people can’t get anything from being in that
position why waste time obtaining that position in the
first place? Then all that would be left are people who
are truly willing to improve the city.

15. References
 http://www.rappler.com/views/imho/97025-real-
problem-political-families
 http://www.econ.upd.edu.ph/perse/?p=1635
 http://www.nscb.gov.ph/ncs/12thncs/papers/INVITED
/IPS-11%20Governance%20Statistics/IPS-
11_1%20Political%20Dynasties%20and%20Poverty_Evi
dence%20from%20the%20Philippines.pdf
 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/tag/anti-political-
dynasty-bill
 http://www.econ.upd.edu.ph/perse/?p=1635