Institutional Arrangements and Policymaking : Are Some Policies Pre-Determined by Political Institutions?

Are policies pre-determined by political institutions? The recently passed economic partnership agreement between Japan and the Philippines (JPEPA) was fought fiercely between supporters such as the government, business and academe and the opposition composed of civil society, academe and other interest groups. Close observation shows that the outcome was either rejection or concurrence by Senate. These outcome possibilities expected in a democratic environment, do not refine or make better policy but waste resources because the Executive branch which has the sole power to initiate treaties has already sunk resources during negotiations. Thus, it is important to study institutional roles in trade policy making. Legislative oversight of the Executive is in the Philippine 1987 Constitution, yet it does not allow for better executive-legislative relations in trade policy making. This research attempts to study these dynamics between the Executive and the Senate in trade policy. The Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) will be used as a case. The JPEPA narrative as well as supporting documents and data will be analyzed to determine where different interests are able to articulate their positions and affect this policy