PANDEMIC, RESILIENCE, AND THE ARTS

The 14th De La Salle University Arts Congress

March 11-12, 2021

Ideology
ideology of
ofInaction
inaction
Political Psychology of Resilience in the Philippines
Matthew Ordoñez
De La Salle University – Political Science Department

Anthony Borja
De La Salle University – Political Science Department

Abstract: Over the past year, netizens made calls to stop romanticizing “resilience” in
the wake of growing discontent over government mismanagement and inadequacies in
addressing the impacts of the current pandemic and recent typhoons. Rather than
express their grievances in political processes, Filipinos tend to simply adapt and
remain silent. Why do Filipinos remain inactive in the midst of political failures and
natural disasters? This study hypothesizes resilience as an ideology that discourages
political action and encourages personal adaptation among Filipinos. While
conventional concepts and studies of ideology tend to be limited to partisan politics,
this study presented an alternative view of ideology as something “bottom-up”,
emerging from prevalent cultural and psycho-political tendencies. This paper provides
a theoretical exploration on the ideology of resilience as well as an overview of psycho-
political and behavioral tendencies towards political inaction using quantitative data
from the World Values Survey and Asia Barometer surveys.

Introduction most disaster-prone countries, our government's

disaster response mechanisms still leave much to be
desired (Alycan et al., 2016).
The Filipino people have been called
“resilient” by both international and local media for Why do Filipinos remain politically inactive
their capacity to withstand and “bounce back” from despite the government's repeated failure to prepare
crises and difficulties. This is most evident when and respond to natural disasters and repeated
journalists cover and interview Filipinos during the government incompetence? In addressing this
aftermath of typhoon “Haiyan,” notably by CNN question, this study examines the psycho-political
reporter, Anderson Cooper, during the super context of the recent discourse on resilience.
typhoon Haiyan (De Jesus, 2013). The term sparked
controversy when another strong typhoon, Ulysses, This study posits the hypothesis that
caused significant flooding and damage across the Filipinos possess an embedded ideology of resilience
country (Geducos, 2020). Presidential Spokesperson, or the psycho-political capacity to withstand crises
Harry Roque, attempted to massage the situation by regardless of government competence and reinforces
alluding and praising the innate “resilience” of the the tendency towards political inaction while
Filipino people (Geducos, 2020). focusing on one’s private welfare (e.g. one’s self,
family, community, “kapwa” etc.). In exploring it,
The reinvocation of Filipino resilience this study focuses its empirical examination on
sparked a debate among netizens, claiming that political inaction while generating more hypotheses
resilience is “overly romanticized” and used as a on its relationship with political resilience
substitute for “holding the government accountable” andpaving the way for future inquiries that directly
(ABS-CBN News, August 2020; ABS-CBN News, confronts resilience as a political value and ideology.
November 2020). While resilience is normally The following review of related literature examines
understood as a personality and psychological trait, the themes of resilience in governance, political
the political debate on resilience highlights the long participation, resilience vs. collective action and
observable lack of collective political action among resilience as an ideology.
Filipino citizens. Despite the country regularly
experiencing natural calamities as one of the world’s

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Review of Related Literature community dynamic rather than a psychological or

personality trait (Llanto 2016; Heckelman et al
2017; Baybay and Handmarsh 2018). Because of the
This study takes a psycho-political sheer impact of environmental disasters, resilience
perspective in its analysis of resilience and reviews is derived from a community's ability to
the literatures on political inaction, political values, communicate and participate in response efforts,
and ideology. However, in illustrating the necessity thus moving beyond the individual resilience.
of conceptualizing political resilience, this review Returning to Chandler (2014), resilience presumes
begins with some brief remarks on the current an environment that is flexible, unstable and
literature on resilience governance. constantly. He argues for shift from “subject-object”
of resilience to a more process-oriented and
Resilience Governance: An Overview relational conception of governance. In
conceptualizing political resilience, it may be
necessary to incorporate both the psychological and
As of now, the literature on resilience has
social aspects of resilience but contextualized in the
been mostly in the realm of governance that
realm of politics. However, since public discourse
highlighted the necessity of adaptive capacities in
have related resilience with political inaction, this
the face of crises (Andrew and Kendra 2012;
paper deems it apt to review works that gives a hint
Blanchet, Nam, Ramalingam and Pozo-Martin 2017;
on the roots of inaction. The succeeding section
Kamal-Yanni 2015; Olu 2017). For this reason, there
provides some brief remarks on the massive
is still a huge gap in the literature that cannot
literatures on social movements and collective
explain how resilience is being employed in political
action.
discourse. This first part of this review aims to
summarize some of the key points of understanding
on resilience. The second part deals with the The Roots of Inaction: Remarks on
importance of ideology and how it is embedded Collective Action and Political Alienation
behaviors as much as it is part of partisan politics.

The term resilience is analyzed across many For the purposes of this paper, this section
disciplines but generally refers to the ability to reviews works on rational choice theory as applied
return to equilibrium or to sustain development in in the issues of collective action and political
the face of expected and surprising change (Folk participation. What this section illustrates is that a
2016). Chandler (2014) frames resilience as mobilization effort faces certain obstacles from their
responding to complexity while recognizing that targets. In Tarrow’s (1998) terms, both the
resilience itself is complex as there is little opportunities and difficulties they face, come not
consensus on its meaning. This study focuses on only from institutional and structural factors, but
resilience as applied in social sciences, primarily in also from psycho-political ones. By focusing on the
psychology and governance. latter, we can trace political inaction back to how
ordinary citizens evaluate both options for political
Resilience is more commonly a subject of participation, as well as politics as whole. While
psychological studies and framed as the ability to most threads on the social movements literature
learn or derive meaning when facing crises have elaborated on the encounters among the
(Engeland et al 1993, Coutu 2002; Hermann et al. politically active (cf. Opp, 2009), there is much work
2011). In this field, Resilience can be derived from to be done on the issue of inaction beyond the
personality traits, biological traits, and confines of the “free-rider” problem. Moreover, this
environmental factors throughout an individual's paper sees both incumbent elites and opposition
lifespan (Hermann et al. 2011). forces as mere components that are subject to
scrutiny by ordinary citizens (cf. Borja, 2015, 2017).
In the realm of governance, resilience is To elaborate, this study first looks at how citizens
managed through the coordination of different scrutinize such political objects from the perspective
processes and network of actors (Lebel et al 2006). of rational choice theory (RCT).
Resilience is also commonly applied in the field of
disaster response and environmental disasters According to Hindmoor (2006) and Parsons
(Aldrich, Oum and Sawada 2015; Brunetta et. Al. (2005), the two core assumptions of RCT are the
2019). Philippines is a common case study in this following: (1) that individuals are rational (they are
field. However, these studies frame resilience as a deliberative, and their preferences are reflexive,

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complete, transitive, and continuous); (2) • Objects of desire “are what

individuals are self-interested (meaning that they motivate people to act in
have their own sets of beliefs and they act upon these particular ways”
beliefs and desires in order to achieve optimal • Each person “is intrinsically
results). From these, Laver (1999) states that the motivated by ‘private’ desires
purpose of the RCT is “to construct a logically that do not include desires about
coherent potential explanation of the phenomenon how people ought to interact
under investigation” (p. 2), while for Hindmoor with each other”
(2006), the RCT is concerned with formulating • When interacting with others
models to explain human action1 and not in “people will almost certainly
explaining the factors surrounding a person’s develop ‘social’ desires…which
rationality. make sense only when applied to
social interactions” and would
Nevertheless, the nature of rationality have no meaning to a single
persists as a point of contention and for Laver (1999) person in isolation.
and Riker (1995), it is technically a goal-seeking • People “operate in a world which
behavior without any value or ethical judgments on enables them to do certain
the actor being examined, nor any substantial things and constrains them from
assumptions on human behavior. Riker (1995) states doing others”
that what “rational choice models cannot do is • Rational actors “are motivated
describe human character as a whole…models are by the urge to fulfill their
about the relation between goals and outcomes in desires” and the fulfillment of
categories of events” (p. 37), thus it makes no sense desires “involves the
for the RCT to attribute consistent traits to actors expenditure of resources”, and
being examined. In addition, interests varies widely each “individual is vested by
and these goals are not character traits. This nature with a limited stock of
clarification is important because while the RCT resources denominated, in their
could provide an effective analytical mechanism to most basic form” (p. 18)
examine goals, other theories are needed to examine
the factors behind and forming these goals. It must be noted further that further analysis must
Therefore it is important to note that as Petracca focus how an actor decides within the context of
(1991) argues, self-interest for RCT could be existing constraints, and using the information at
considered as something without any substantive hand and not what they are supposed to have (i.e. in
content and is normatively neutral.2 analyzing political behavior from an RCT
perspective, a priori assumptions must be made
Furthermore, Laver (1999) argues and that based on the current and not on the ideal level of
it is a common trap for RC theoreticians to either information that voters have).
base their assumptions on a purely empirical
approach or to end up building complex models over At this point, this review asks, what is the
a priori motivational assumptions that are far from process behind translating thought into behavior?
reality (i.e. the economism of neo-classical economics What is the logic and the components of such a
and its utilization of RCT). When applied to entities, process? Though it is easy to say that it is a matter
the “rational” actor takes on several characteristics of cost-benefit analysis, a more nuanced
based on certain apt a priori assumptions. Below is understanding of the latter must recognize the
a summarized list presented by Laver (1999): difference between objective and perceived costs.

1 According to Hindmoor (2006) the Rational Choice RCT by Neo-Classical economics, Opp (2009) stated
Theory, in line with its aim to make models, assumes that there are currently two different versions of the
the existence of a set of preference as something that RCT. First is the narrow version that adheres to
is constant per model. Thus, pinning the question of Neo-Classical economics and was considered by Opp
why do people choose this instead of that is (ibid.) as a mere caricature of the second version of
something that is not applicable to the RCT. the RCT that could take non-material factors into
2 In line with the main tenets of the RCT, and the account and is widely used in the literature.
more prominent economistic interpretation of the

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The latter holds more weight from a psycho-political the person’s attitude will be for that object, and the
perspective. contrary is true for objects that are perceived as
useless or a hindrance.
To elaborate, this review turns to the notion
of Expected Value (EVT). For Ajzen and Fishbein In summary, for Ajzen and Fishbein (ibid.)
(1975) man is “an essentially rational organism, who beliefs are the bricks an actor uses in fashioning a
uses the information at his disposal to make filtering device, or a set of standards that would
judgments, form evaluations and arrive at decisions” guide him through decision making.5 In turn, an
(p. 14). In other words, action is based on the actor filters the available behavioral options and
cumulative measure of a person’s beliefs that were chooses the one aligned with the cost-benefit
transformed into either a negative or positive analysis located in the interaction between beliefs,
attitude4 towards a certain object. People act attitudes, and intentions. For the purposes of this
towards a certain object in accordance with how paper, it would utilize the model made by Ajzen and
much they know about it, and the results of their Fishbein (ibid.) in measuring behavior, and would
evaluations of it. From this, Ajzen and Fishbein place the object of concern as the context of this
(ibid.) states that the basic assumption of the EVT is research’s proposed model.
that:
From the discussion above, it could be said
people learn “expectations”, i.e., that since the subject matter in this paper is a form
beliefs that a given response will of behavior (political inaction), an analysis of it from
be followed by some event. Since an expectancy-value perspective necessitates the
these “events” could be either utilization of the SEU and IV models. A synthetic
positive or negative “reinforcers” version of these models allows us to trace the roots
(i.e., could have positive or of political inaction back to political attitudes.
negative valence)…people would However, since conventional modes of political
learn to perform (or increase their participation can also be collective (e.g. public
probability of performing) behavior protests), this study responds to the problem of
that “expected” to lead to positively collective action.
valenced events (ibid., p. 30)
Olson (1971), in analyzing the rational
Two models are built upon this assumption. First, individual in the context of organizations, argues
focusing on behavioral choice, the Subjective that collective action (formation and maintenance of
Expected Utility (SEU) model according to Ajzen groups) is based not only upon the harmony but also
and Fishbein (ibid.) argues that “when a person has on the satisfaction of individual interests. The
to make a behavioral choice, he will select that nature of organizations, according to him, is based
alternative which has the highest subjective upon the acquisition and provision of goods that
expected utility” (i.e. the alternative that is more require collective action. Moreover, he emphasizes
likely to lead to outcomes favored by a rational the importance of individual rationality in analyzing
individual). Using the conceptual framework collective action. This view of individuals as the
discussed earlier, this model was reinterpreted as building blocks of organizations provides a better
the person’s attitude toward a behavior, in relation perception that allows analyses to view groups as an
to other available options. The second one, the association of individuals, instead of being a
Instrumentality-Value (IV) Model focused more on homogenous block; a collective that is deprived of
the instrumentality of objects in relation to certain individual interests.
valued goals. Ajzen and Fishbein (ibid., p. 31) states
that for the IV model, the more a certain object (i.e., This perspective also exposes the problem of
an action or policy) is perceived as instrumental in free-riding. To elaborate, Olson (ibid.) defines the
obtaining positively valued goals, the more favorable individual in a group, as someone with the

4Ajzen and Fishbein (1975) defines attitude as the 5 According to Ajzen and Fishbein (1975, p. 31)
positive or negative affect of an actor to a stimulus ‘attitudes are necessary because they permit the
object, and therefore “should be measured by a individual to achieve certain goals or value states
procedure which locates the subject on a bipolar (ex., they allow him to organize knowledge, to
affective or evaluative dimension vis-a-vis a given maintain his self-esteem, to express his views)’.
object” (p. 216).

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propensity to “free-ride” in the costs and subsequent individuals evaluate themselves in relation to the
provision of certain collective goods. As a critique to activities in a public sphere.
the “functional” and “naturalistic”6 tendencies of the
traditional theory of organization, he posits that To start, alienation is the impeded or
such a mode of argument (using “inherent instincts” deficient praxis of appropriation leading to the
as a cause) would have a severely limited capability reification of an object (Jaeggi, 2014). There are two
to explain the issues surrounding the concept of key factors in this conceptualization. First is
organizations. Olson (ibid.) states that: appropriation or “having access to or command over
oneself and the world…the capacity to make the life
Though all of the members of the one leads, or what one wills and does, one’s own; as
group...have a common interest in the capacity to identify with oneself and with what
obtaining this collective benefit, one does” (ibid., p. 37). What is appropriated is itself
they have no common interest in altered, structured, and formed in the process of
paying the cost of providing that appropriation. It is a sustained process of
collective good. Each would prefer transformation bound to incumbent and “previously
that the others pay the entire cost, existing content and thereby also to an independent
and ordinarily would get any meaning and dynamic over which one does not have
benefit provided whether he had complete command” (ibid., p. 39). Simply put,
born part of the cost or not. (p. 21) dis/alienation is a cycle that builds upon existing
factors that cannot be controlled absolutely, and
Is the free-rider problem applicable to the case of traceable to the results of previous rounds of
collective political participation? Following the basic appropriation.
RCT analytical thrust that is free from any
presuppositions on a person’s interests, this study Second is reification or the condition
posits a qualifier, namely, does an individual deems wherein an object is perceived to have developed a
a certain collective political act as something that dynamic of its own that achieves a measure of
can provide a collective good. In other words, how rigidity (i.e. constancy and invulnerability to
can a person deliberately free-ride on a collective change). It involves the veiling of practical questions
activity if he deems the latter as incapable of that undermines free agency and protects a current
satisfying his interests or achieving an explicit goal. system from change by maintaining habitual
This is an issue that only emerges by inspecting the behavior in it. This presupposition of a domain of
cognitive processes behind a certain behavior potential actions becomes an obstacle to novelty and
instead of merely assuming utility maximization. experimentation. Consequently, it makes an object
appear as if it is automatic. Moreover, within a
In relation to this, Borja (2015, 2017) reified system, we are not coerced to follow. Instead,
argues that political inaction is due to political we fail to develop a tendency or will towards control
alienation rather than deliberate free-riding. The and/or change. This is because the alienated is
latter have been construed as having two basic and incapable of seeing an object (e.g. behavior, systems,
intertwined manifestations, namely, how we look at etc.) as subject to their decisions and actions.
an external political object and how we look at
ourselves (Borja, 2015, 2017; Finifter, 1970; From the exposition above, this study asks
Seeman, 1959, 1979; Stoker and Evans, 2014). In if individuals can serve as objects to themselves as
analyzing these two, this study looks into alienation part of self-reflection. The answer lies with the
in general and as a form of self-reflective notion of political spectatorship as both a condition
spectatorship. The latter is important because it and a process wherein as alienated entities,
provides an analytical mechanism for how individuals can judge themselves vis-à-vis what they
see in the public sphere (Borja 2015, 2017) (e.g. the

6According to Olson (1971), the Traditional Theory responsibilities of the family. According to this
of Organizations was anchored on the supposed proposition as society develops, the increase in the
instinct of men to herd together in order for them to number of organizations with various functions
deal with other opposing collectives. Moreover, the ranging from health to religion is caused by the
Traditional theory, in line with prior critiques to family’s surrender of a number of these
their mode of analysis stated that groups are meant responsibilities to non-kin organizations.
to perform functions that were, in earlier times,

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activities of their representatives and their fellows). themselves in relation to public affairs. Our pursuit
Furthermore, a spectacle is a manifestation of of these factors, however, are limited to the realm of
reification that is projected back to the alienated everyday life (i.e. in the private sphere), thus
that in turn can sustain their sense of powerlessness marking an alienated relationship between us and
(Debord 1995). Nevertheless, Jaeggi (2014) notion of the public sphere. In other words, political
appropriation recognizes a spectator’s creative and spectatorship is based on a reifying relationship
empowering capacity without discounting the between spectators and those within the spectacle;
strength and sustainability of a spectacle. Within a reifying in the sense that the public sphere appears
sustained cycle and struggle for appropriation, the as impenetrable to our efforts as spectators. They
reifying force of a spectacle can be understood as see the public sphere as impenetrable and
something that varies through time and under themselves as inefficacious actors because they see
different circumstances. What this study highlight is those performing in the public sphere as beyond
the dynamic of spectatorship as a manifestation of a their control or influence. Nevertheless, those within
struggle for appropriation. Rancière (2009) and the spectacle can also facilitate the entry of
Borja’s (2015, 2017) elaborations on the nature of spectators into public affairs thus temporarily
spectatorship illustrates this. From them, political suspending the spectatorship of those affected (e.g.
spectatorship can be construed as something that mobilizations, sponsored spaces for deliberation,
allows individuals to see and evaluate themselves as elections etc.).
political actors. As spectators they evaluate: (1) the
efficacy of political acts, (2) their role in public Overall, political inaction is based on
affairs, and (3) their capability to influence politics. efficacy or lack thereof, not on free-riding. For this
It also allows them to start appropriation by reason, the collective action problem can be
recognizing, evaluating, and creatively responding reframed as a matter of convincing non-participants
to a political object that has been reified and that certain behaviors and collective activities can
projected, that is, made into a spectacle. actually produce results. From the vantage point of
non-participants, the collective action problem is
The realization of a spectacle lies in the only applicable if they actually judge a collective
existence and sustenance of a crowd of spectators. activity as a credible instrument in satisfying
Alienation and the sustenance of alienated certain interests or achieving certain outcomes.
relationships is key to its existence. Despite of this, Simply put, political action is a matter of being
spectators are not deprived of either creativity or convinced that an action is worth taking and a
opportunities for empowerment. For Rancière (2009) collective activity is worth being a part of. The
a spectator is an actor with the capacity to evaluate contrary is true for political inaction outside the
and creatively interpret a spectacle’s projection. He frame of free-riding.
rejects both the ideal of unity through identity and
immediacy, and the supposed mystery of reality Ideology Beyond Partisan Platforms:
transforming into disempowering illusions imposed Ideology as a conceptual map and “bottom
on spectators. Thus, for him a spectator goes beyond
passivity and is capable of creatively processing a up” beliefs
spectacle in absorbing and interpreting the meaning
it conveys. Ideology is commonly defined as a system of
values and attitudes (Federico, Jost and Napier
Borja (2015, 2017) extends this notion of 2009; Freeden 1996, 1998, 2006; Gerring 1997; Jost,
spectatorship towards politics in his adaptation of Kay, and Thorisdottir 2009) that could be expressed
Debord’s (1995) analysis of a spectacle’s reifying in public discourse (van Dijk 2006). However,
tendency. By focusing on the political psychology of Feldman (2003) argues that ideology is not a reliable
spectators, Borja (2015, 2017) supports and determinant of attitudinal organization.
elaborates Rancière’s (2009) argument on the Specifically, the impact of ideological tendencies on
creative and emancipatory capacity of spectators. He attitudes is not clearly established. Nevertheless,
shows through the case of the Philippines that this study reverses the picture by entertaining the
political spectatorship refers to the reception and possibility of attitudes developing into a general
creative processing of spectacular projections. As understanding of the world and a person’s place in
spectators, citizens recognize that certain values, it. Furthermore, this study highlights that ideology
needs, and interests have a political/public is irreducible to partisan claims and platforms.
dimension. This frames how they see and evaluate

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Instead, it refers to a conceptual map manifested concept, van Dijk (ibid.) has argued further that first
through psycho-political and discursive factors.7 ideology is neither necessarily negative nor a form of
false consciousness as was espoused by classical
Concerning the burdens tied with the Marxists. Second, ideology is not personal belief
concept of ideology, Gerring’s (1997) review exposes though the latter can be subsumed under a socio-
and schematizes the myriad uses and definitions of cognitive belief system. Third, an ideology is not
ideology without ignoring or rejecting its value nor necessarily dominant. Fourth, an ideology is
condemning its inherent semantic diversity. From irreducible to the social practices that are meant to
his definitional analysis Gerring (ibid.) makes the express, reproduce, and enact it (e.g. public
following observations. First is that coherence, discourse). Lastly, as was stated earlier, it is not the
contrast, and stability (under the cognitive/affective same as other social belief systems. In summary,
dimension) were the only characteristics that can be ideology can be defined as primarily socio-cognitive
deemed as relatively consistent in the literature. in nature, or specifically, it is a system of values,
Coherence refers to the internal structure of beliefs, and attitudes that is socially shared,
ideologies, specifically the harmony between the coherent, relatively stable, and distinct from other
values and beliefs constituting a certain ideology ideologies and belief-systems.
while, contrast is a characteristic that deems an
ideology as distinct from others, albeit not Freeden (1996) makes the study of ideology
necessarily exclusive. Tying these two factors is the more flexible by framing it as a conceptual map that
relative stability of constituent parts of an ideology. is subject to change and development, and as
something distinct from political philosophy. He
Gerring’s (ibid.) conclusions are echoed by deviated from earlier, that is, normative approaches
van Dijk (2006) who defines it as the following: (1) as to ideology by focusing on its systematic nature9, and
a system of values and beliefs that requires a for this reason instead of arguing for either the
cognitive approach; (2) as a socially shared by positive or negative impact of ideology, his
members of a community, specifically, “ideologies ideational-morphological approach renewed the
consist of social representations that define the interest towards the dissection of ideologies. This
social identity of a group” (ibid., 116) by determining objective was accomplished by taking concepts as a
shared beliefs and understandings on issues ranging basic unit of analysis and by focusing on the
from its fundamental conditions to their ways of morphology of a conceptual map. This approach was
living; (3) as distinct from other belief systems epistemologically based on the distinction between
because it is more fundamental and axiomatic, thus political philosophy and ideology, thus preventing
allowing it provide cognitive cohesion for a certain the misuse of assumptions and mechanisms for the
group;8 (4) as something gradually acquired and is former in the analysis of the latter. Specifically, this
relatively stable, though subject to change and review notes that first, ideologies, is concerned with
modifications within a certain life period and in the creation of conceptual maps, driven by
accordance with actual experiences. simplification and appeals to both reason (at the very
least, consistency) and emotions10. Thus, instead of
To place emphasis on the ontological analyzing ideology through the lenses of logic, it
distinction and normative neutrality of ideology as a should be approached, primarily as a social and

7 Gerring (1997) claims ideology’s conceptual 9 For Freeden (1996) the analysis of ideology must be
ambiguity can be construed as a reflection of considered as separate from the function of ideology;
reality’s multi-dimensionality. Despite the that is, analyzing ideology must not guide political
complexity of ideology, this study argues that it can action.
be analyzed when focused on a certain dimension 10 Freeden (1996, 30) stated that “ideologies mix

depending on the case. rational and emotive debate freely. They will be
8 For van Dijk (2006, 116), “ideologies are more hasty in ending discussion if rational
foundational social beliefs of a rather general and persuasion proves inconclusive. They will be less
abstract nature. One of their cognitive functions is thorough in pursuing the detailed implications of
to provide (ideological) coherence to the beliefs of a their arguments. After all, ideologies have to deliver
group and thus facilitate their acquisition and use in conceptual social maps and political decisions, and
everyday situations. Among other things, ideologies they have to do so in language accessible to the
also specify what general cultural values (freedom, masses as well as the intellectuals, to amateur as
equality, justice, etc.) are relevant for the group.” well as professional thinkers. This free mix of reason

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historical product that is based on both reason and resilience and expose the deeper consequences of
emotion. such a discourse.

To elaborate, Freeden (2013) illustrates in As mentioned earlier, Resilience has

his recent work that ideology can be construed as meanings stemming from the socio-psychological, to
referring to both the internalization and expression the physical and environmental. Much like ideology,
of a coherent set of ideas and values derived from the Resilience is a highly multi-dimensional word which
temporary decontestation of more fluid and less requires specificity when analyzing (Reghezza-Zitt
coherent political thought. Moreover, since political et al.,2012).The psychological meaning can be
thinking itself involves decontestation, political considered a skill to adapt but also bears a certain
ideology can be understood as a level directed at interpretation of an individual's relationship with
creating a more coherent and crystallized conceptual the world. Donaghue (2019) claims resilience
map for a wider public. conditions individuals and society to internalize
uncertainty and how everyone must prepare for
From the works reviewed in this section, impending crises. Holling (1986) in particular,
this study notes that the analysis of ideology must defines resilience as the capacity to maintain
be based on both a minimal definition as a baseline stability in spite of a disturbance, which can be
and the recognition that ideology is necessarily considered part of a society's conservative impulse.
multi-dimensional. This may appear contradictory In other more extreme cases, it is the ability to
but a minimal definition can contain multiple return to the previous state before the disaster.
attributes that can be deemed as related with each
other yet distinguishable. This study approaches Resilience has been analyzed as an
ideology as both a socio-psychological object (Gerring ideology, most notably by scholars connecting it as a
1997; Jost 2006; Tedin 1987; van Dijk 2006) and as manifestation of a neoliberal order (Chandler 2019;
a conceptual map (Freeden 1996, 1998, 2006), thus, Donoghue 2019). For critics of neoliberalism,
prompting an analysis of both political attitudes and Resilience "masks" power relations as it places focus
public discourse. on the "agent" as empowered and shifts attention
from and even masks the structural defects of
neoliberalism (Chandler, 2014, 2019; Dagedeviren,
Resilience as Political Ideology
et. al. 2014; Hornberg, 2013). It normalizes the belief
that events such as disasters are a product of
Following Freeden’s conception of ideology
"uncertainty" rather than structural or political
of a conceptual map and composite of attitudes,
failure. Such conceptions of resilience also allows
resilience has the potential to be for being considered
regimes and incumbent structures to absorb
an ideology as it structures and internalizes a
criticisms and avoid collapse. However, in many
certain relationship between individuals, the state,
ways, neoliberalism is mostly a "global and market
and the environment. This following section
oriented ideology" that tends to change and adapt
highlights resilience as the agency of individuals in
once it interacts with local contexts (Springer 2012).
interpreting disasters as uncertain rather than the
While the Philippines is also a country heavily
result of state failure.
influenced by neoliberal ideology (Bello 2005; Ortega
2018). Resilience need not be solely attributed to
The paper previously discussed resilience
neoliberal ideology but also in embedded cultures.
as a frame of governance and socio-psychological
ability to adapt. This section summarizes common
In the Philippines, resilience is not only
trends in the discussion of resilience as an ideology
attributed by foreign observers but somewhat
particularly as a set of beliefs and attitudes. Though
internalized in certain components of Philippine
the conception is not new in general, the
culture. Resilience may be present in many societies
identification of resilience as an ideology in the
but tend to have culturally specific aspects (Ungar,
Philippines is novel. Resilience can be found in
2008). Some scholars have attributed it to
ideological components of culture such as religion
theological justifications from the prevalent Catholic
and community values. This study hopes to
faith such as attribution of disasters of God’s will or
strengthen the relationship between ideology and

and emotion is intolerable to many philosophers,

who do not regard emotive reasons for an argument
as good ones.”

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God as a savior (Bellano 2019). Isidro and Callega relationship between the individual and the
(2020) found that resilience was reinforced by community or government. While resilience has
related communal and social values such as (a) been located in culture and religion in the
bayanihan, (b) malasakit or care for the person, (c) Philippines, Resilience in the political context has
pananagutan or sense of duty, and (d) sense of yet to be fully examined and verified.
volunteerism. They cite "kapwa" which refers to a
shared identity or seeing the self-in-others, as a core Due to the lack of primary data on this
in the local value system (Pe-Pua, R., & Protacio- precise manifestation of resilience, it is necessary to
Marcelino 2000). The focus of their study was derive operationalization from the context of the
resilience in selected organizations and businesses current debate. Thus, we posit the following
and it is still to be seen whether this correlation hypothetical components of political resilience:
exists in a more public aspect. However, it can be 1. It is presumed Filipinos are resilient
derived that agency is highlighted on the community because they are capable of
or organization members to assist their fellow man withstanding or adjusting to crisis such
rather than the government or state institutions. as natural disasters.
There is a clear thread on Resilience being an 2. Because Filipinos, whether as
internal capacity to adapt rather than expressing individuals or communities, are
their hardships in political dissent or opposition. capable of withstanding or adjusting to
crises, it is not necessary to complain to
or about the government.
Statement of the Problem and 3. Without the feedback from the
Operationalization populace, the government does not
adjust their disaster response or
From the discussion above, this study governance and relies heavily on the
asserts that political inaction, as a result of resilience of the populace.
embedded attitudes related to the concept or 4. There is a relationship between a
ideology of resilience. To an extent, this paper, as a perceived control over the welfare of
preliminary step is an attempt to reverse engineer one’s self and family, and a perceived
resilience as a political value from the attitudes that lack of control over politics,
are usually attached to it by public discourse. governance, and the crisis itself.

In the context of resilience as a discursive Although these components are far from an
object, may it be a public affirmation or a critique of exhaustive description of resilience, these
it, political inaction appears to be its primary object. components act as a preliminary core basis for
However, if one looks at the psycho-political context detecting political resilience in this exploratory
behind it, political alienation appears with political study.
spectatorship being one of its behavioral
components. Why are public praises of resilience tied
with political inaction? Why are criticisms of Methodology
resilience directed at its behavioral implications?
This study considers political alienation and In order to illustrate the political inaction
political spectatorship as attitudinal conditions that and the respective attitudes towards political
causes political inaction. participation, this study exposed the psycho-political
context of resilience discourse in the Philippines. It
Based on the study’s review, Resilience is conducted a basic descriptive quantitative analysis
an ideology that internalizes uncertainty and favors of secondary survey data from the 2nd (2005), 3rd
agency of communities and individuals and masks (2010), and 4th (2014) Waves of the Asia Barometer
the inadequacies of the structure. may inform the Surveys.11 By including these three waves, this

11Data analyzed in this article were collected by the University. The Asian Barometer Project Office
Asian Barometer Projects of (2005-2008), (2010- (www.asianbarometer.org) is solely responsible for
2012), and (2013-2016), which were co-directed by the data distribution. The author(s) appreciate the
Professors Fu Hu and Yun-han Chu and received assistance in providing data by the institutes and
major funding support from Taiwan’s Ministry of individuals aforementioned. The views expressed
Education, Academia Sinica and National Taiwan herein are the author's own. Moreover, the Asia

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study showed that there was sustained levels of government; (3) the results for items #5, #6, and #7
political alienation and political inaction despite of indicated that most Filipinos saw themselves as
the multiple crises and disasters from 2005 to 2014. incapable of participating in politics or influencing
This is relevant as the Philippines experienced three public affairs. Moreover, when taken with item #2, it
of the strongest tropical typhoons in recorded appeared that there is a shared attitude towards the
history, most notably Haiyan in 2013, and Meranti government as impenetrable beyond elections.
in 201612 (Madarang, 2020).
Tied with the results from Table 1, the
For all the waves analyzed, the Social public sphere in the Philippines was a reified
Weather Station (SWS) utilized a multi-stage spectacle for many Filipinos were mere spectators.
probability sampling. The Philippines was divided However, this was not a static condition because
into four study areas, namely, the National Capital political energies were funneled towards electoral
Region (NCR), Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. 300 politics. Specifically, the positive attitude towards
respondents were extracted from each study area. the capacity of people to change their government
The selection of households was conducted through (item #1) was directed towards and limited within
interval selection starting from a randomly chosen electoral participation. In other words, alongside a
landmark. Voting-age respondents were then reified public sphere was the ballot standing as the
randomly using a probability selection table; male predominant means of political participation in the
family members were pre-listed in the probability Philippines. Consequently, civic energies were
selection table of odd-numbered questionnaires usually directed at elections with non-electoral
while female family members were pre-listed for modes of participation being deemed as
even-numbered questionnaires. The sample size of inefficacious. Specifically, while elections in the
1,200 respondents entailed a margin of error of ± Philippines (from 1992-2016) enjoyed an average
2.83% with a 95% confidence level. voter turnout and registration rates of 75.11% and
88.95%, respectively, the contrary was true for non-
electoral participation. Tables 3 and 4 illustrates
Results and Discussion this contrast.

This study provided a glimpse of sustained Table 3 shows the roots of the strong
political alienation and spectatorship in the tendency of Filipinos to vote. Most participated in
Philippines. What was the nature of political elections while sharing a positive attitude towards
spectatorship among Filipinos? Table 1 shows a the efficacy of elections to make a government aware
majority being constantly receptive to projections of popular sentiments. Table 4 in turn shows a
emanating from the public sphere. general aversion towards non-electoral forms of
participation from collective deliberation to acts of
Items #1 and #2 indicated a public protest. Therefore, in line with both political
willingness to follow public affairs while #3 reification and a general aversion towards non-
indicated a tendency to make politics as an object of electoral political participation, elections were
discussion. These three items showed that Filipinos considered by most Filipinos as the most credible
were far from being politically apathetic. means of appropriating public affairs (i.e. of
Nevertheless, how they saw political affairs participating in it and affecting its conduct).
suggested that many were kept within the confines
of spectatorship. Conclusion
Juxtaposed with this attachment to the
public sphere were the following conditions shown Resilience is a word often used as a
on Table 2 below: (1) most Filipinos did not perceive complement to people who withstood crises and
any repression in the freedoms of speech and hardships but remains relatively unexamined. The
organization; (2), from item #1, most Filipinos recent debates on resilience bears many potential
believed that the people have the power to change a insights on political inaction in the Philippines.

Barometer Survey of 2014 utilized a randomly country, it is relatively week in comparison to many
selected sample of N = 1200 of the typhoons that have hit the Philippines. This
12 This period would also include Ondoy in 2009. highlights the failure in management, disaster
While it has caused severe flooding across the response and infrastructure.

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Because of the recency of the issue, this paper posits romanticizing-resiliency-slater-young-

the question on the relationship between resilience reacts-to-roques-comments-on-ph-
and participation by establishing its precedence. The unemployment-rate
findings of this study are preliminary as it is based ABS-CBN News. (2020, November 25). Poe: Stop
on established patterns and attitudes prior to the romanticizing FILIPINO resilience in
peak of the debate on resilience in the Philippines. aftermath of calamities. Retrieved March
This is related to political alienation which may be 26, 2021, from https://news.abs-
one of many factors to contributing to inaction. cbn.com/news/11/26/20/poe-stop-
Furthermore, resilience as a cultural value is still in romanticizing-filipino-resilience-in-
need of more examination as resilience originates aftermath-of-calamities
from culture while containing political, and Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1975). Beliefs, Attitude,
depoliticizing aspects. This study focuses on the intention and behavior: An introduction to
politicized meaning of resilience which deters theory and research. London: Reading.
political action. Resilience may be a composite of Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (2010). Predicting and
several attitudes rather than a singular attitude and changing behavior: The reasoned action
may include the refusal to complain or focus on approach. New York: Psychology Press.
rebuilding. However, besides the deployment of the Alcayna, T., Bollettino, V., Dy, P., & Vinck, P. (2016).
term by journalists, netizens and politicians, it is Resilience and disaster trends in the
important to determine what resilience means to Philippines: opportunities for national and
ordinary Filipinos and how much is it a societal local capacity building. PLoS currents, 8.
value to them. The study's hypothesis does not Aldrich, D. P., Oum, S., & Sawada, Y. (Eds.).
necessarily close off other possible variables that (2014). Resilience and recovery in Asian
produce inaction. Thus, it is still necessary to isolate disasters: Community ties, market
resilience as a value and measure it against other mechanisms, and governance (Vol. 18).
related variables or attitudes such as cynicism or Springer.
apathy to determine its distinct capacity to affect Andrew, S.A., & Kendra, J.M. (2012). An adaptive
behavior. governance approach to disaster‐related
behavioural health services. Disasters
Future studies need to directly investigate 36(3), 514-532.
people's perception of resilience in the context of Baybay, C. S., & Hindmarsh, R. (2019). Resilience in
natural calamities and how it relates to their the Philippines through effective
inclination or disinclination towards political action. community engagement. Australian
Another possible path is conducting discourse Journal of Emergency Management,
analysis between those who critique the idea of The, 34(1), 65-70.
resilience, those who hold it as a value, and possibly Bellano, B. (2019) Cultural and Religious Aspects of
those in between. Such an approach would be able to Disaster Resilience: The Case of Typhoon
document the multiple perspectives and Ketsana Victims in the Philippines
contradictions of the discourse and further examine Bello, W., Bello, W. F., De Guzman, M., Malig, M. L.,
its effects on political behavior. Lastly, it would be & Docena, H. (2005). The anti-development
beneficial revisit the concept of ideology in state: The political economy of permanent
Philippine politics and political psychology. There is crisis in the Philippines. Zed Books.
a need to recognize ideology emerging not only from Blanchet, K., Nam, S.L., Ramalingam, B., & Pozo-
atop the social hierarchy (education, media, political Martin, F. (2017). Governance and capacity
parties, etc.) but also from the patterns of societies to manage resilience of health systems:
and communities themselves. towards a new conceptual framework.
International Journal of Health Policy And
Management 6(8), 431-435.
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Tables

TABLE 1: SPECTATORSHIP – RECEPTION (PERCENTAGES)

Items 1 2 3
Waves 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 4th
Very
10.7 25 15.2 Everyday 45.9 47.7 43.6 Frequently 9.5 11.1 9.9
interested
Several
Somewhat
42.2 49.4 43.8 times a 15.4 16.3 18.7 Occasionally 67 70 67.6
interested
week
Once or
Not very
23.5 17.6 23.8 twice a 16.5 22.8 16.8 Never 22.4 17 22.2
interested
week
Not at all Not even
21.9 7.6 17 14.3 9.3 15.6
interested once a week
Practically
5.9 3.5 5
never
Invalid 1.5 0.4 0.2 Invalid 1.9 0.4 0.3 Invalid 1 1.9 0.3
Total 100 100 100 Total 100 100 100 Total 100 100 100
Items:
1. How interested would you say you are in politics?
2. How often do you follow news about politics and government?
3. When you get together with your family members or friends, how often do you discuss
political matters?
* Invalid (Can’t Choose, Didn’t Understand, Didn’t Answer)

TABLE 2: POLITICAL REIFICATION (PERCENTAGES)

ITEMS 1 2 3 4
WAVES 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 4th
Strongly agree 34.8 47.8 31.1 15.8 17.7 15 33.5 42.1 31.3 31.7 35 27.9
Agree 33.9 31.8 40.6 34.2 35.3 41.6 33.1 33.5 39.4 34.7 39.8 41.1
Disagree 18.6 14.7 19.5 32.1 32.6 29.7 21.9 17.3 21.2 21.9 17.4 22.3
Strongly
Disagree 11.1 5.5 8.4 13.3 13.2 13.3 9.4 6.8 7.5 9.3 7.1 8.3
Invalid* 1.6 0.2 0.5 4.7 1.3 0.4 2.1 0.5 0.6 2.5 0.9 0.5
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

ITEMS 4 5 6 7
WAVES 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 4th 3rd 4th
Strongly agree 31.7 35 27.9 8.7 16.9 12.4 25.9 24.9 20.1 19.3 18.7
Agree 34.7 39.8 41.1 18.7 26.8 20.9 31.2 33.9 39.4 32.9 36.8
Disagree 21.9 17.4 22.3 24 23 27.8 25.7 27.2 27.7 31.6 29.4
Strongly
Disagree 9.3 7.1 8.3 45.6 33.1 37.8 13.2 13.3 12 15.6 14.1
Invalid* 2.5 0.9 0.5 3 0.3 1.1 4 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.9
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

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TABLE 2: POLITICAL REIFICATION (PERCENTAGES)

Items:
1. People have the power to change a government they don't like
2. Between elections, the people have no way of holding the government responsible for its
actions
3. People are free to speak what they think without fear.
4. People can join any organization they like without fear.
5. I think I have the ability to participate in politics.
6. Sometimes politics and government seems so complicated that a person like me can't really
understand what is going on.
7. People like me don`t have any influence over what the government does.
* Invalid (Can’t Choose, Didn’t Understand, Didn’t Answer)

TABLE 3: ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION AND ATTITUDES ON ELECTIONS

(PERCENTAGES)
Items 1 2
Waves 3rd 4 th 3rd 4th
Voted in every
57.7 59.2 A good deal 19 16.4
election
Voted in most
16.2 19 Quite a lot 49.6 48.9
elections
Voted in some
12.1 11.4 Not much 25.5 28.8
elections
Hardly ever voted 5.6 6.4 Not at all 4.8 4.6
Invalid 8.5 4 Invalid 1 1.2
Total 100 100 Total 100 100
*Invalid - Can't choose, decline to answer, or not *Invalid - Can't choose, decline to
applicable (only registered once as a voter) answer, or can't understand
Items:
1. Have you voted in every election, voted in most elections, voted in some elections or
hardly ever voted?
2. How much do you feel that having elections makes the government pay attention to what
the people think?

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TABLE 4: NON-ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION (PERCENTAGES)

ITEMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
3rd Wave
Never
87.4 82.3 72.4 85.9 92.9 78.2 88.1 91.6 95.2
Done
Once 7.4 10.8 16.2 8.9 3.7 14.5 8.4 5.1 2.8
More
than 5.2 7 11.4 5.2 3.3 7.3 3.5 3.2 1.9
once
Invalid 0 0 0 0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
4th Wave
I have
done
this
3.9 8.7 11.1 4.1 1.1 7.2 2.8 1.7 0.5
more
than
once
I have
done
8.1 11.6 14.4 8.3 2.3 10.7 6.2 2.9 1.7
this
once
I have
never
87.6 78.7 73.9 87.1 95.8 81.4 90.3 94.5 97
done
this.
Invalid 0.4 1 0.7 0.5 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.9
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Items: 6. Got together with others to try to resolve
1. Contacted elected officials or legislative local issues
representative 7. Got together with others to raise an issue
2. Contacted officials at higher level. or sign a petition
3. Contacted traditional leaders/community 8. Attended a demonstration or protest
leaders. march
4. Contacted other influential people outside 9. Used force or violence for a political cause
the government * Invalid - Can't choose, decline to answer, or
5. Contacted news media can't understand

DLSU ARTS CONGRESS PROCEEDINGS

Volume 5|
ISSN 2012-0311