ElectionFinance.net

Jose C. Sison at the Philippine Star and ABS-CBN writes that the party-list tier to the Philippines’ lower chamber of congress is not functioning as it should. To paraphrase, he says there are two problems: first, because relative to winning a seat in the single-member district tier it is a cheaper way to get elected, it is attracting candidates who want only the cheapest way to get elected so that they can enjoy the salary and perks that come with officeholding. Second, it provides a means for groups that are political parties (especially the far left) in all but name to get elected without really ”actually participating in the free market of ideas.” It might not be so bad, however, if these candidates or “parties” elected in the list tier contributed with major legislation of any sort, but he says he hasn’t seen it for the 12 years since it’s introduction.

The party list may be a “cheaper” way to gain a seat in the legislature in other mixed member electoral systems, at least in the sense that there are greater economies of scale to advertising nationally (or at least in areas bigger than a single-member district), because parties are likely to already have a following (not so for candidates in the single-member district tier), and because in the list tier competition is for the marginal seat, not for first-past-the-post all-or-nothing.

But this “cheaper” competition is not the what Sison describes in the Philippines - that individuals candidates are “forum shopping” for the cheapest way to ”buy” a seat. Why this may occur in the Philippines (but is unlikely in other mixed member electoral systems) may have to stem from easy candidacy requirements, which allows “rogue” individuals or non-partisan groups to compete against all other groups (parties) in the list tier. (In fact, Sison writes that the list tier was created to foster representation for marginalized groups of citizens, not for greater among parties). It is also because unlike the party list-tier of other mixed-member systems, the Filipino system caps the number of seats a party or list may receive at 3. This renders it less proportional, and levels the playing field between strong parties and some of these other groups with enough followers or resources to win at least a seat. According to IPU.org, a list needs only to surpass 2% of the national vote to win a seat in the list tier.