Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Newsletter — Issue #20 (Conventions and Convenors)
<p>This takes a cue from Segundo Eclar Romero’s recent column on party conventions, a topic I was writing a podcast script for when his article appeared. So to preempt that for a bit, some thoughts on what the absence of political party conventions tells about the state of our politics not just today, but for the past 40 years.</p>
<p>We’re familiar with party conventions because of the United States, and our pre-martial law conventions were patterned on those our political leaders attended in the United States because Filipinos would lobby at each party convention for an independence plank to be included in the party platform (we had success with the Democrats but not the Republicans). But even in America, the conventions have become largely ceremonial occasions since 1968, because instead of delegates battling it out, their votes are predetermined through the system of primaries, where candidates compete to win pledged delegates.</p>
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