The Never Ending Democratization of the Philippines 99 democratic consolidation (Diamond, Linz and Lipset 1995: 1-66). These factors range from the economic, political, and social structures to the political leadership of a country. Specifically, among these factors, are: legitimacy and performance, political parties, political culture, social structure and socioeconomic development, socioeconomic inequality, constitutional structure and civil society. The process is complex as there are no acknowledged deterministic patterns for democratization. There are observed commonalities among consolidated democracies that are instructive. But these are not easily replicated because each democratizing state evolves its own path toward a consolidated democracy. The focus of this research is on the constitutional structure of the Philippines. In particular it looks at the formal political rules, the country's constitutional framework, and its actual practice, in the last 25 years. This period covers the ouster of the Marcos authoritarian regime in 1986 up to June 2010, end of the Arroyo administration. It covers four administrations—Aquino, Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo. The Benigno Simeon Aquino III administration, only one year old as of this writing, has sparse reference in this study. The focus on constitutional structure accepts the premise that political rules influence the economy and society. In other words, “political institutions matter”. Institutions include informal and formal rules. The enforcement or revision of formal rules through reward or punishment shapes the patterns of interaction which are internalized. These patterns develop or change informal rules or norms, actor identity and interest (Wendt 1999: 224-33). Informal rules cover norms and traditions, while formal rules “include political (and judicial) rules, economic rules, and contracts. The hierarchy of such rules, from constitutions, to statute and common laws, and finally to individual contracts defines constraints, from the general rules to particular specifications” (North 1990, 2009: 47). Political rules are closely examined in this study. North broadly defines political rules as the hierarchical structure of the polity, its basic decision structure, and the explicit characteristics of agenda control (North Ibid.: 47). The Human Development Network in its Philippine Human Development Report 2008/2009 employed the institutional approach to analyze in detail the impact of the bureaucracy, budget management, and the enforcement of rules about checks and balances and accountability on human development. The report says: “There is wide agreement that the weakness of political institutions in the Philippines is a major, if not the major hindrance to its further progress” (Philippine Human Development Report 2008/2009: 2; see also Arugay 2005: 63-88). Moreover, the country has long been described as a “soft state,” where rules and enforcement are for sale (Fabella, 2008 cited in Ibid.: 2).