Last July 5, Greece went back to its Athenian roots and did what is considered unthinkable in modern times—let the people themselves directly decide what to do with their country’s huge public debt. And decide they did. In an unprecedented referendum called to determine whether to accept or reject the harsh terms of a third … Read more
In many ways, the state of politics and governance in the city of Makati exemplifies everything that is dysfunctional in the nation’s political system. Law is put in a position of having to constantly assert and defend its autonomy against political power. The official is so tightly folded into the personal that it becomes impossible … Read more
In many ways, the state of politics and governance in the city of Makati exemplifies everything that is dysfunctional in the nation’s political system. Law is put in a position of having to constantly assert and defend its autonomy against political power. The official is so tightly folded into the personal that it becomes impossible … Read more
In my column last Thursday (“The ‘undecided’ in opinion surveys”), I made the point that many questions asked in surveys are on issues so complex that a conscientious respondent would not be able to truthfully answer them. The result quite often, I said, is the large number of “undecided” respondents—a phenomenon that may take forms … Read more
Most people have never participated in an opinion survey, nor have they seen one being conducted. This may sometimes make them wonder if the opinion surveys reported in media are real. I can assure skeptics that they are real. But the probability of being picked as one of the 1,200 respondents in a typical nationwide … Read more
In my column last Thursday (“The ‘undecided’ in opinion surveys”), I made the point that many questions asked in surveys are on issues so complex that a conscientious respondent would not be able to truthfully answer them. The result quite often, I said, is the large number of “undecided” respondents—a phenomenon that may take forms … Read more
Most people have never participated in an opinion survey, nor have they seen one being conducted. This may sometimes make them wonder if the opinion surveys reported in media are real. I can assure skeptics that they are real. But the probability of being picked as one of the 1,200 respondents in a typical nationwide … Read more
Early reports on Pope Francis’ much-anticipated encyclical on the environment have tended to frame its message in an old question: Can religion add anything significant to the understanding of complex issues that belong to the province of modern science? More specifically, can a pope’s pronouncements on the contentious issues of climate change carry any weight … Read more
Early reports on Pope Francis’ much-anticipated encyclical on the environment have tended to frame its message in an old question: Can religion add anything significant to the understanding of complex issues that belong to the province of modern science? More specifically, can a pope’s pronouncements on the contentious issues of climate change carry any weight … Read more
The story of a nation’s birth is the same everywhere. In a landscape of fragmented and subjugated communities, someone glimpses the image of a people bound by a common experience of oppression and a shared aspiration to be free. In Benedict Anderson’s memorable words, every nation has its beginnings as “an imagined community.” We Filipinos … Read more