Costing Populist Policies

Authors

Ronald U. Mendoza, Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow
Michael Ilagan, Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila University
Miann S. Banaag, Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow
Ivyrose Baysic, Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2017

Abstract

In many countries were populism has taken hold, focus on quicker yet ultimately unsustainable policy shortcuts gave rise to canonical populism that has led to policy failure and crises. This note analyzes three policy cases in the Philippines which appear to reflect populist tendencies, defined simply by its redistributive yet potentially unsustainable characteristics. It aims to reveal not simply the cost of these policies, but also the need to think of structural and institutional reforms that address the root causes of the risks and challenges. Ultimately, populism appears to be trumped by evidence on policies that actually work more effectively.

Recommended Citation

Mendoza, R. U., Ilagan, M., Banaag, M., & Baysic, I. (2017). Costing populist policies (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 3040451). Social Science Research Network. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3040451