The Families that Stay Together: A Network Analysis of Dynastic Power in Philippine Politics

Rafael Acuna, Aldie Alejandro and Robert Leung

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Abstract: Dynasties have long dominated Philippine politics. Despite the theoretical consensus that dynastic rule erodes democratic accountability, there is limited empirical evidence establishing dynasties' true impact on development. A key challenge has been developing robust metrics for characterizing dynasties that facilitate meaningful comparisons across geographies and election cycles. Using election data from 2004 to 2022, we leverage methods from graph theory to develop four indicators to investigate dynastic evolution: Political Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), measuring dynastic power concentration; Centrality Gini Coefficient (CGC), reflecting inequalities of influence between clan members; Connected Component Density (CCD), representing the degree of inter-clan connection; and Average Community Connectivity (ACC), quantifying intra-clan cohesion. Our analysis reveals three key findings. Firstly, dynasties have grown stronger and more interconnected, occupying an increasing share of elected positions. Dominant clans have also remained tightly knit, but with great power imbalances between members. Secondly, we examine variations in party-hopping between dynastic and non-dynastic candidates. Across every election cycle, party-hopping rates are significantly higher (p

Date: 2025-05
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