Democracy, Decentralization and Higher Education: The Philippine Case

With the Philippines as a case study, the country’s definition, policy and practice of democracy and its decentralization initiatives are reviewed and analyzed towards its contribution to the demise of Philippine Higher Education, which used to be one of South East Asia’s most admired higher education systems. Democratization and decentralization in the Philippines have influenced governance and power structures, funding mechanisms, and quality fo the public sector, its public service delivery including that of higher education.Questions raised in this paper include: How does decentralization empower the local government and how did this affect the Philippines higher education sector? Did decentralization play a role in the demise of Philippine’s higher education system? A documentary review of the 1973 Philippine Constitution, which mandates the promotion of local government autonomy and its eventual self reliance as a community will be conducted. Additionally, the 1991 local government code, which systematized power allocation and responsibilities between national and local governments including fiscal autonomy and the ability to support and operate higher education institutions, will also be reviewed in this paper. Philippine’s higher education reforms and a brief historical overview of the demise of the country’s higher education sector will be presented and studied especially from a decentralization perspective. The interrelationship between Phillippine’s democracy and its ongoing decentralization process will be linked with higher education reforms along with some key socio-economic factors towards explaining their role and contribution (if any) to the demise of the once well established and acclaimed higher education system in the South East Asian region.