Credit claiming and vote choice: a study of how credit claiming affects the vote choice of voters in selected barangays in Candaba, Pampanga

Abstract

In a highly personalistic country such as the Philippines, credit claiming has been rampant, both in the national and local politics. Incumbents claim credit over government projects to remain in power. To determine the impact of credit claiming on vote choice, political sophistication was used as its measure. A quantitative method was then employed, with political sophistication as the independent variable while vote choice as the dependent variable. The study was conducted in three selected barangays in the municipality of Candaba, in the province of Pampanga. The study used multi-stage, systematic sampling, with 384 respondents. The results show that there is no correlation between political sophistication and credit claiming, and between political sophistication and vote choice. However, credit claiming does affect vote choice since the incumbents who have implemented projects, which the constituents consider important, are rewarded with reelection. This can be attributed to the public’s acceptance of credit claiming leading to its institutionalization.