Mediating Governance: Trust, Power, and Political Communication in the Philippines (2025-2030)
For Future Advisees/Mentees, Collaborators, and Partners
Agenda Overview
This research agenda investigates how governance is imagined, performed, and contested in the Philippines, particularly through media, public discourse, and everyday interactions. At its core, it asks: What kind of governance do Filipinos aspire to? How do we want to be led? These inquiries extend to deeper concerns about power, legitimacy, and political trust, particularly in relation to tiwala (trust) and pagsunod (submission).
Understanding governance in the Philippines requires grappling with its historically fragmented political order and the multiple, often competing, sources of authority that shape it. As Samuel Huntington once quipped, 'Before power can be limited, it must first be established.' However, power is neither static nor uncontested—it is continuously constructed, mediated, and reconfigured over time. This raises critical empirical questions: Under whose authority is order established? By what means is legitimacy negotiated? How does trust shape, sustain, or challenge political rule?
While liberal political theory typically evaluates democracy through procedural norms, electoral competition, and political participation, these frameworks often fail to account for the culturally embedded and everyday ways Filipinos experience politics and governance. Philippine scholarship has examined patron-client relations, political dynasties, and local governance structures, yet there remains a need for deeper engagement with the mediated, affective, and discursive dimensions of trust and legitimacy. This research agenda addresses that gap by integrating insights from political communication, critical discourse studies (CDS), and governance research.
Drawing from my background in political science and communication studies, this agenda is structured into four interrelated research streams that examine governance, leadership, and trust from distinct but complementary perspectives. Each stream offers pathways for mentorship, supervision, and collaborative research, guiding students and emerging scholars interested in political communication, media discourse, and governance studies.
*If you are interested in learning more about the ways in which we can collaborate or work together, I highly recommend that you review the PDF provided below. It details the various research streams under this agenda, their general questions, mentorship/supervision tracks, and sample reading list.
This research agenda investigates how governance is imagined, performed, and contested in the Philippines, particularly through media, public discourse, and everyday interactions. At its core, it asks: What kind of governance do Filipinos aspire to? How do we want to be led? These inquiries extend to deeper concerns about power, legitimacy, and political trust, particularly in relation to tiwala (trust) and pagsunod (submission).
Understanding governance in the Philippines requires grappling with its historically fragmented political order and the multiple, often competing, sources of authority that shape it. As Samuel Huntington once quipped, 'Before power can be limited, it must first be established.' However, power is neither static nor uncontested—it is continuously constructed, mediated, and reconfigured over time. This raises critical empirical questions: Under whose authority is order established? By what means is legitimacy negotiated? How does trust shape, sustain, or challenge political rule?
While liberal political theory typically evaluates democracy through procedural norms, electoral competition, and political participation, these frameworks often fail to account for the culturally embedded and everyday ways Filipinos experience politics and governance. Philippine scholarship has examined patron-client relations, political dynasties, and local governance structures, yet there remains a need for deeper engagement with the mediated, affective, and discursive dimensions of trust and legitimacy. This research agenda addresses that gap by integrating insights from political communication, critical discourse studies (CDS), and governance research.
Drawing from my background in political science and communication studies, this agenda is structured into four interrelated research streams that examine governance, leadership, and trust from distinct but complementary perspectives. Each stream offers pathways for mentorship, supervision, and collaborative research, guiding students and emerging scholars interested in political communication, media discourse, and governance studies.
*If you are interested in learning more about the ways in which we can collaborate or work together, I highly recommend that you review the PDF provided below. It details the various research streams under this agenda, their general questions, mentorship/supervision tracks, and sample reading list.