234 Chasing the Wind: Assessing Philippine Democracy, Second Edition One growing concern in terms of the family's role in political socialization is the impact of the changing Filipino family structure as more parents work abroad to provide a better life for their children. As parents leave, socialization of the child is left to the parent left behind, grandparents or other relatives who are designated as guardians (Battistella & Gastardo-Conaco, 1996, 1998). The question then is whether the remaining parent or caretaker guardian is able to do a good job in transmitting important social, cultural and political values and ideas to the child. Parental absence sometimes leads to difculties in family dynamics that can lead to lapses in the socialization process. The remaining adults may be imbalanced by the changed power structure as a parent or parents leave and children may feel abandoned, resent and challenge the modied family hierarchy, posing more imbalances in the system. A necessarily myopic focus on the satisfaction of basic needs and earning money may also diminish the salience of other socio-political values that still need to be taught and learned. Moreover, one also has to factor in the contributions of the parent who is away and is being exposed to other values and belief systems. With the advent of new communication technologies, the absent parent can still directly contribute to their children's socialization while away and communicate new socio-political values, both explicitly and implicitly. And when that parent returns, he or she returns with new perspectives and new patterns of behavior (e.g., more empowered) that can challenge the prevailing power structures and be modeled by the child, eventually altering the old cultural patterns. In sum, the family is the rst teacher of the child about membership and participation in a political system, inculcating ideas directly as well as indirectly. Parents, particularly, play a large role in this transmission with what they say as well as what they do not say, with their actions and not just their words. This is a large opportunity for latent learning about behavior in hierarchical organizations and the ideas transmitted appear to be more coherent with authoritarian systems and paternalistic, benevolent leadership expectations, at best. We learn to adhere to rules and follow orders without questions; we learn our rightful place and keep it; we learn the appropriate responses to group members who hold superior or subordinate positions in the hierarchy; Insubordination or rebellion is not tolerated as this disrupts harmony and order. In a democratic political system, these values and ways may not be as adaptive or conducive to a fully engaged, critical and participatory citizenry. These may, in fact, only serve to reinforce authoritarian systems and provide support to a hierarchical patriarchy. It should be noted, however, that the family's role in socialization may be going through major changes with the many changes in our social and family structures. The surprising ndings in Quiñones' (2013) thesis that family's importance as a source of information about Philippine government and national identity is ranked behind television, the internet, schools, and even