Reforming Institutions
W hen I hear the word “political institution” images of the Roman Coliseum and the Greek Parthenon come to my mind. To me they represent an entrenched arrangement of powers that governed their respective societies. Rome was not built in a day; neither did these powers spring overnight. Roman, Greek and present-day political institutions came to be after years of political and economic maneuvering. They will evolve after more of that. Jaime Faustino defines political institutions as “rules of the game in a society - and the nature of political and power struggles that lie behind them”. Some of the most powerful rules are formally legislated or ordered; many more, just as powerful, are unstated, assumed, and still strictly observed. Like the rule that says you don’t give the politician’s relatives any problems when they apply for business permits. Informal rules often trump formal ones. The Local Government Code says national agencies can only implement projec...