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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
Conditions for the successful operation of the democratic form of government have not been present in the Orient. Democracy requires a people who have confidence in themselves, in their leaders, and in the democratic processes, and who have the means for operating democratic institutions. Included in the tools that make democracy work are literacy, a willingness to abide by the rules of the game, and a rapid means of communication and transportation. In the Orient a fatalistic view regarding government is widespread. People in the lower income groups feel that government is an institution of the few, by the few, and for the few. Vote buying, spoils politics, favoritism, nepotism, grafting, the squeeze, the hold up, the percentage are all taken for granted. As one Filipino senator put it, “Graft and corruption are inherent in human nature.” The Orient also suffers from the primitive character of means of transportation and communications. Roads are bad, newspapers have limited circulations, telephones and telegraph stations are few, radios are scarce, and travel is often complicated by hazards of water, mountainous terrain, bandits, and wild animals.
The Philippine elections of November 10, 1953 show that the difficulties that have hindered the growth of democracy in the Orient can be overcome. Before the elections apprehension was widespread that extensive use might be made of fraud and terror to defeat the free expression of the popular will.
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10 Nivera, “Political Review” (cited in note 7). The 1953 presidential elections marked a high point in popular participation in the Philippines as a whole. In spite of this, the vote cast in 1949 in the provinces of Negros Occidental and Lanao was far higher than it was in 1953. In Lanao 150 per cent of the estimated number of eligible voters were registered in 1951, according to the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL.)
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12 Mr. Magsaysay said on October 17, 1953, in a speech; “Ask Mr. Quirino if it is not true that the United States refused to enter into the military assistance pact unless he first cleaned out the corruption and inefficiency of his armed forces. Ask him if it is not true that when he suggested that I be made Secretary of National Defense, the American negotiators promptly agreed, and only then was the pact concluded.” Philippines Free Press, Oct. 31, 1953, p. 55Google Scholar.
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20 Summaries of his speeches are to be found in Philippines Free Press, Manila Times, Daily Mirror, Daily Record, Evening News, Manila Chronicle, Manila Daily Bulletin, and Philippines Herald.
21 Mimeographed publications of the organizations and articles in Philippines Free Press.
22 A scatter diagram of the percentage of the total vote for Magsaysay and the percentage of families living in dwellings of light materials shows a slight negative relationship between these two variables, but the high Magsaysay provinces spread over the whole range. In other words, Magsaysay got a high vote in both prosperous and poor provinces.
23 See map.
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25 Gosnell, “Filipinos Hold Free Election” (cited in note 3).
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