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The Anti-Political Dynasty Bill: A Faustian Bargain? (Last Part)

The Philippines’ anti‑political dynasty bill aims to disperse family‑controlled seats, but empirical evidence shows such bans rarely boost programmatic parties or governance quality. Studies reveal dynasties simply substitute relatives—often women—to retain power, while interest groups re‑consolidate influence elsewhere. Experts argue that without institutional reforms, the law treats symptoms, not the disease, and suggest replacing the patronage‑driven system with membership‑based, publicly funded parties like those in Germany and the United States. Penalizing party‑switching could further deter opportunistic behavior and shift incentives from surnames to party credibility.