Abstract:
The study looked into the everyday lived experiences of CAS UP Manila students under a
unitary government and how it affected their views on federalism. The paper started due to the
perceived gap in studies regarding federalism since they mostly focused on the perceived
benefits of federalism instead of the reasons people want it in the first place. The researchers
sought to accomplish the following objectives: 1) provide a thick description of the students’
lived experiences under the unitary government, 2) analyze the differences and similarities in the
lived experiences and views between students from different categories, and 3) examine the
implications of their lived experiences on their views about federalism.
To realize the study's objectives, the researchers selected 15 students from CAS UP
Manila who live in urban non-conflict, urban conflict-prone, rural non-conflict and rural
conflict-prone barangays via purposive sampling. The researchers then conducted
semi-structured interviews on Zoom to gather their experiences which they then analyzed
through reflexive thematic analysis.
In the analysis of the data, the researchers observed four recurring themes. The first
theme provides thick descriptions on the experiences of the students under the unitary
government, revealing the challenges they experience while living in their barangay (e.g.,
inaccessible necessities, ineffective services and safety concerns) and their evaluation of the
barangay officials. The second theme shows the problems of the respondents in the unitary
government, particularly about the politicial dynasties. The third theme reveals that the
respondents only had a basic knowledge of federalism. Lastly, the fourth theme presents the idea
that the respondents believe that federalism has its advantages and disadvantages.
The researchers through the findings concluded that the lived experiences of students do
affect their view of federalism. However, the most significant factor which pushes the
participants whether to agree or disagree with federalism is their knowledge about federalism
and the problems of the unitary government.
