Political science research and methodology in the contemporary Philippines: an analysis of the Philippine Political Science Journal, 2000–2019

ABSTRACT

This paper looks at the development of the political science discipline through the articles published in the Philippine Political Science Journal (PPSJ), the official publication of the Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA), from 2000 to 2019. Following the study of Munck and Snyder on the study of comparative politics and Teehankee on the study of Southeast Asia, this paper surveyed 115 original research articles published by the PPSJ using the metrics of scope, objectives, and methodology. The paper argues that since its first publication in 1974, the PPSJ has become more diverse in terms of topics and areas studied and methodologies employed, particularly within the 20 years covered by this study. It is also argued that the diversified and broader coverage of research and methodology is reflective of the developments in political science in the contemporary Philippines.

KEYWORDS:

• Philippines
• Philippine Political Science Journal
• Political Science Research
• Research Methodology
• Research Objectives
• Scope of Research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The first peaceful ‘revolution’ was held in 1986, which led to the removal of dictator Ferdinand Marcos from office.

2 This is because many of the political scientists took their master’s and doctoral degrees, have had training, or were supervised by professors who studied in universities outside the Philippines.

3 Teehankee’s study was mainly focused on the study of Southeast Asia but had a section on the study of politics in the Philippines.

4 This observation is based on the publicised political science curriculum of the major Philippine universities in their official websites.

5 These justifications are tentative and require further study and analysis, but may help begin the discussion as to why these topics remain dominant in the study of Philippine politics. For example, as one of my colleagues (Asst Prof Enrico Gloria) pointed, does it follow that in other similarly structured political systems, the interest in institutional politics is also dominant? But I believe this is a matter that requires a deeper analysis and a separate paper altogether.

6 Studies on the political elites and clientelism, under the overarching category of social actors, comprise 8% of the articles, versus political parties with only 3%.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jan Robert R. Go

Jan Robert R. Go is an assistant professor of political science at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He is currently a doctoral student with a major in political theory at the Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China. His areas of interest include decentralization and devolution, political leadership, and non-Western political theory.