RIGHT TO VOTE: STUDENTS’ INVOLVEMENT IN STUDENT

GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

by:

JOSELINE M. SANTOS, Ph.D.

CARLA P. AC-AC
LIANA MARIE S. DELA CRUZ
MARCO P. RAMOS
MARIELLE ANGELI P. VILLAFUERTE

January 2019

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

I. Abstract
Student organizations provide avenues for students for involvement in social and
political concerns. This study explored how students at the Bulacan State University’s
College of Architecture and Fine Arts (CAFA) are involved in Student Government
Elections, and looked into the factors affecting the students’ involvement. CAFA was
chosen because it is among the colleges with the lowest voter turnout in last year
(2017) Student Elections. The findings of the study are intended to benefit the student
whether as voter or candidate, as well as the campus in general. From a larger
perspective, it should contribute to the importance of developing our youth and their
participation in governance processes even outside of the academe. Majority of the
respondents were fourth and fifth year students not occupying posts in school
organizations. The researchers used stratified sampling to acquire the sample required.
In the survey done, the researchers discovered that the involvement of the students in
CAFA are from low to moderate level, half of whom do not vote. The study also
showed that only half of the students recognized voting as part of their right and
responsibility. On the other hand, the factors affecting the students’ involvement
include frequency of voting, political platforms, social influences, affiliation and
interest. CAFA students showed less willingness to be involved in the political
platforms of the candidates.
Keywords: Organization, involvement, election, vote, politics
II. Introduction
Student organizations are the most progressive and dynamic segment of a
college or university. The widespread growth of political issues pave way to clashes
of student leaders' ideology and dialogues but as the scope becomes vast and far-
reaching the student body tergiversate and fails to exercise their right to suffrage.
University campuses has been the microcosm of Philippine political system
and society. In most of where student activities are still monitored and most of the
time, controlled by an administrative unit, students are learning to assert civil liberties
as a defense of their rights (Velasco, 2001). As it is a small-scale of the nation,
political discussions are frequently considered as a vital component of democracy by
theorists and its extent and quality is often proposed as a measure of evaluating the
strength of a democracy (Galston, 2013). As stated by Curtice, many western
countries are concerned about the level of participation of their citizens in civic life
and the apparent lack of interest and involvement among young people in public and
political life. in many democratic societies, engagement in various political activities
such as voting and contacting officials, has fluctuated widely.
Every year, the Commission of Student Elections receives a decline of
outcome tally of student voters of Bulacan State University despite the active student
government activities. Thus, determining the factors affecting the student involvement
in terms of their right to suffrage will be beneficial because it may lead to higher ratio
of critical thinkers that may contribute to the attainment of not just university’s vision
and mission, and also may as well in the nationwide set-up.
Student Government. Student government is an entity that was created to provide
students the experience and training in the democratic form of the government. This
group of students is charged with the duty of continuously expanding and
coordinating a program of student activities, to stimulate interest and support in the

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

development, assessment and execution of educational, social, cultural and
recreational programs, to develop communication amongst students, administration
and faculty. In addition, Marrou believes that this opportunity is being an institutional.
Furthermore, Student government has the potential to positively impact the growth
and development of college students in a variety of ways. Regardless of the
effectiveness of student governance power, the involvement of students in governance
related activities is a positive element of college student participation. However, the
impact and level of participation in student government is often difficult to determine.
There is no holistic database that contains information regarding the number of
students who participate in student government nationally, the impact of their
funding, or the number of students who vote in elections.
Student Political Involvement. It is a bright reality that politics is concerned with
the affairs of the country, its constitution, foreign relations, national issues and other
essential day by day matters. The youth are naturally involved in these essential
affairs. According to Aoki and Takeda (2008), college campuses serves ideal
locations to students to meet other people that are actively participating in this kind of
activity. The conceptions of citizenship within a democracy have long been talk in
political thought that dates back in Ancient Greece. As defined by Aristotle,
citizenship must not be based on one’s birth right but to its ability to participate in
political life within a city state. Directly involving one’s self within talks of politics
gives control over their immediate surroundings in contrast to the occasional act of
voting for elected officials (Vanada, 2010) but there has been considerable debate
over the extent and role of young people's political participation. Whether considering
popular hand-wringing over concerns about declines in young people's institutional
political participation or dismissals of young people's use of online activism, many
frame youth engagement through a “youth deficit” model that assumes that adults
need to politically socialize young people. However, others argue that young people
are politically active and actively involved in their own political socialization, which
is evident when examining youth participation in protest, participatory politics, and
other forms of non-institutionalized political participation. (Earl, J., Maher, T. V., &
Elliott, T.,2017).
Every one opinion differ on the issue whether students be allowed to take part in
politics or otherwise. Political involvement can take the form of electoral and
campaign behaviors, political voice activities and attentiveness to current issues and
political news. The political involvement of students as a part of the college education
is not something new (Wilson, 2008) contradicting in a study that survey a thousand
college students about their attitudes towards politics, these students reportedly
perceived several barriers to getting involved in political activities because they did
not feel confident in their understanding of political issues, disliked the political
processes, and did not know how to get involved in politics (IOP, 2000). Student
political movements is one of the vital factors on how society can be driven to a path.
In the Philippine setting, student movements are being armed with a vision of an
alternative society and its perspective of linking arms with others sectors such as
peasants and workers (Valte, 2014).The political involvement of students enabled it to
transcend its narrow sectional interest and transform itself into a political force with a
broader social movement. There are many components affecting the student political
involvement and determining these may help not just the locale but also the society.
In the research realm of studying political engagement, there is much concurrence
that the development of skills, knowledge, and character of engaged citizens is an
educational process. In Galston's (2001) words, "Good citizens are made, not born"

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

(p. 217). What is meant by political engagement can include advocacy and education,
direct service, community development, political involvement, socially responsible
behavior, philanthropic giving, and participation in community associations (Wagner
& Owen, 2006).
Societal Perspective. Perspective is considered as someone’s point of view. So,
the perspective that will be tackled in this review is the perspective different
researchers that will help this research. According to the study conducted by Alida
Siebken (2017), politics can be extremely complicated because it is difficult to
understand it caused by a challenging starting point which is true for everyone.
Followed by her, one of those having issues with politics are the students, some
students who have limited access to information about these things, politics. About
those dealing with political ideas, according to a study done by Mikael Persson (2012)
his study indicated that political participation related to education is likely not to be
type of education, he added that the results showed that factors outside the school
mainly affects the participation or involvement in politics. Voting is a power to make
changes in one’s nation, even students can make changes with proper knowledge and
to have that knowledge, students need to get involved even in their communities and
learn more about their own respective states. Even though some people’s perspective
is different from others, the fact that politics is a part of everyone’s lives won’t change
but having knowledge and a good perspective can help change things for the better.
The research used a quantitative method to conduct the study by means of
survey questionnaires with the aim of determining the factors that affects the student
involvement to student government elections. To do so, the researchers designed the
study as a descriptive research in order to supply in depth view of the students to
student elections, and the factors affecting the said problem. From there, the
researcher can provide elaborate description of this conundrum
Descriptive research deals with the relationship between variables, the testing
of hypotheses, and the development of generalizations, principles, or theories that
have universal validity. In this design, the researcher observes and describes the
behavior of the subject and does not influence it in any way. The process is beyond
mere collection of data as it also involves the adequate and accurate interpretation of
findings. It describes the current situation by drawing generalization in comparison or
contrast with the present.
This research aiming to determine the factors affecting the student involvement
to student government election in terms of: (A) Frequency of voting; (B) Candidates’
political platforms; (C) Social influence; (D) Affiliation to Student Council; and (E)
Personal interest. Determining the factors affecting the involvement of students in
participating in student government elections will be important for the reason that it
may solve the low rate of student involvement in terms of student government
elections.
In this study it was known that the student involvement of the respondents has the
lowest involvement in attending speeches, formal and informal seminars, or teach-ins
about student government and so resulting to low to moderate involvement of the
student voters in Bulacan State University particularly in College of Architecture and
Fine Arts.
This study affirms the approach of the integration of Astin's theory of College
Impact (2000) and Verba, et al.'s (2004) Civic Voluntarism Model as a way of
understanding college student as defined by CIRCLE. It was not, however, sufficient

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

to explain all of the aspects of college student political involvement. Nor were all of
the aspects that were anticipated relevant to these students. These variances can be
explained by two factors. First, college provides unique work, learning and
extracurricular activities for students. Students were able to identify a wide range of
opportunities where they were building specific skills that they could transfer to
political involvement. These experiences included internships as a type of work
experiences and campus-based leadership development programs.
III. Materials and Methodology
This study used the tally records from the Commission on Student Elections to
determine the lowest ranked college in the main campus, the enrolment statistics from
the Management Information System, and structured questionnaires which will satisfy
the needs of the researchers in order to provide answer for the study. A structured
questionnaire were precisely decided in advance and asked to the respondents exactly
the way they were written, in the same sequence, using the same style. Structured
questionnaires are the most suitable means of extracting answers to the respondents
because it provides the specific needs of the research.
A stratified random sampling procedure is used for selecting the participants in
this study. This technique was employed to ensure a fairly equal representation of the
variables for the study. According to Maheshwari (2017), the researchers must first
identify the relevant strata and their actual representation in the population and so
using this, figure out the sufficient number of sample to support the study at hand.
To acquire the ratio of voters from the population of each colleges, the
researchers simply divided the outcome tally, which is equal to the number of voters,
over the total of number of students in that college, multiplied by 100%.
Due to financial constraint, the college garnering the lowest ratio of voters with a
small population was selected as basis.
After acquiring the population for the study, the researchers used Slovin’s
formula as shown above to acquire the sample. Given the population of 422 students
and a desired 5% margin of error, the sample turn out is 206 students.
Using the stratified random sampling technique, the researchers systematized
three stratum based on the courses under CAFA in order to get an equal opportunity
to come up with a more reliable results. This is to ensure that each variable is given
equal opportunities to be represented in the study.
The table above presents the stratum or the courses under College of Architecture
and Fine Arts that will be part of the research namely; Bachelor of Fine Arts,
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and Bachelor of Science in Architecture that will
make up the 206 students as the respondents of the study.
Survey method is used to gather data from the respondents through the use of
questionnaires covering the need of the research in order to answer the conundrums.
To do so, the researchers formulated a questionnaire containing statements that the
respondents will rate according to 4-point Likert scale pertaining to agreement for the
student involvement, 3-point likelihood Likert scale for the statements about the
political platforms, influence and personal interest of the respondent; answering the
questions how is the involvement of students may be described and the factors
affecting the participation of the students. The latter part of the questionnaire is a
checklist about the individual’s affiliation and the frequency the respondent voted in a
student government election. This questionnaire will help the researchers determine
the student involvement rate to student government elections.
The research instrument is examined and validated by the people expert in the
field of Social Sciences and English. Revision such as; (A) additional questions that

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

 will help in answering the conundrum; (B) and removing extraneous questions that
are irrelevant to the study, was likewise done on some items of the questionnaire to
make them more easily understood.
The data gathered was utilized to devise an action plan in order to increase the
rate of involvement of the student to these kind of activities. The means of each part
in the survey questionnaire corresponds to the factors that is affecting the attitude of
the student voters to the student government elections.
The researchers used simple statistical treatment such as solving for the mean to
determine the degree of influences to the mindset of student voters.
The first phase of the study involved the collection of data from the Commission
on Student Elections for the outcome tally of the AY. 2017-2018 student government
election and Management Information System Office for the total population of
enrolled students in the Bulacan State University in their respective colleges and
courses.
The second phase was the systematizing of the stratum that will be respondents of
this study. As shown above, the College of Architecture and Fine Arts was divided
into three stratum according to the course under this college.
Third phase of this study was the distribution and retrieval of the survey
questionnaires from the 206 students of the CAFA. Looking for the respondents and
waiting for their availability took some time to complete. Assuming that the
respondents were available, they were asked by the researchers to return the
questionnaires within the day or two days after, also some respondents did not take
the questionnaires properly so additional questionnaires will be printed out.
The last part of the study was the analysis of the data gathered from the
respondents by solving for the mean of each part of the questionnaires and ranking the
factors according to the responds using the 4-point Likert scale.
IV. RESULTS
Student Involvement
Table 1
Student Involvement
Statements Mean Standard Interpretation
Deviation
I am interested in what is going on in student 2.45 0.85 Moderately
government. Involved
When student government issues or problems 2.08 0.81 Moderately
are being discussed, I usually have Involved
something to say.
I attend speeches, formal and informal 1.82 0.86 Lowly Involved
seminars, or teach-ins about student
government.
I promote student’s involvement and 2.26 0.87 Moderately
importance of exercising our right to vote. Involved
During student’s election, I believe I have a 2.60 0.99 Moderately
role to play in the election process. Involved

Answering the general conundrum of this paper, this part presents five statements
measuring their involvement in the student’s election. Firstly, having the largest
involvement among the five statements, having a mean of (2.60) the statement,
“During student’s election, I believe I have a role to play in the election process”.
Next statement which is, “I am interested in what is going on in student government”,

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

 (2.45) showing that the respondents are lowly involved. Afterwards, the statement that
gets the respondents with a low involvement for (2.26), “I promote student’s
involvement and importance of exercising our right to vote. Followed by the
statement, “When student government issues or problems are being discussed, I
usually have something to say”, (2.08) showed that these respondents are also lowly
involved. Lastly, the statement which had the respondents their lowest involvement is,
“I attend speeches, formal and informal seminars, or teach-ins about student
government”, (1.82).
Factors Affecting the Student Involvement
Frequency of Voting
Table 2.
Frequency
Statements Response Ratio
I vote every year. 101 49.02%
I voted twice or more in my whole stay in Bulacan 49 23.79%
State University
I voted once in my whole stay in Bulacan State 33 16.01%
University.
I have not yet voted ever since. 23 11.17%

This part presents the respondents’ frequency of voting during the Student
Government Elections as follows: “I vote every year that garnered 101 respondents”;
“I voted twice or more in my whole stay in Bulacan State University” having 49
respondents; “I voted once in my whole stay in Bulacan State University” with 33
respondents; and lastly, having only 23 response with the reason of “I have not yet
voted ever since”.
Under this subgroup, the reasons of the respondents on why they did not vote in
every student government elections are as follows:

Reasons
Table 3.
Reasons
Statements Response Ratio
I forgot to vote. 15 14.27%
I did not have any free time. 65 61.90%
I do not care about the student government elections. 23 21.90%
I do not know where the voting precinct is. 14 13.33%

61.90% of the respondents who do not vote every year reasons out that they do
not have any free time during the election day; next in line with 21.90% does not care
about the student government elections; followed by the reason that the respondents
forgot to vote.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

 Political Platforms
Table 4
Political Platforms
Statements Mean Standard Interpretation
Deviation
I weigh the pros and cons of each 2.17 0.66 Very Likely
candidates’ platform.
I sought others’ opinions, and then decided 2.12 0.69 Very Likely
which candidate to vote for.
I am color-biased in listening to political 1.5 0.64 Somewhat
platforms of each party. Likely

I do not care about their political platforms. 1.62 0.65 Somewhat

Likely
Their platforms will represent my interest 2.11 0.68 Very Likely
Their platforms speak for the common 2.07 0.64 Very Likely
people
Their platforms will take a leadership role 2.25 0.66 Very Likely
in the whole university.

The researchers presented seven statements determining their involvement in the

political platforms of each candidate. The largest involvement with a mean of 2.25 is
the viewpoint of the respondents on how candidates’ platforms will take a leadership
role in the whole university. The second statement indicates how the respondents
weigh the pros and cons of each candidates’ platforms which has a mean of 2.17.
Third statement that has a mean of 2.12 indicates how the students sought others’
opinions in deciding which candidate to vote for. Fourth statement that has a mean of
2.11 indicates how the candidates’ platforms will represent the respondents’ interest.
Fifth statement that has a mean of 2.07 indicates the candidates’ platforms will speak
for the common people. Sixth statement that has a mean of 1.61 indicates shows that
respondents have no interest or emotional investment in the political platforms. The
statement which got the lowest mean of 1.5 indicates how color-biased when listening
to political platforms of each party the students are.

Social Influence
Table 5.
Social Influence
Statements Mean Standard Influence
Deviation
I vote for whomever my friends will vote. 1.50 0.69 Somewhat
Likely
I vote for whomever my professor says. 1.33 0.62 Somewhat
Likely
I vote for whomever I think is good. 2.5 0.69 Very Likely

I vote for people/party that seems to be 1.50 0.68 Somewhat

winning Likely

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

 I vote for the people/party I see first on the 1.38 0.65 Somewhat
list Likely

The researchers presented the respondents five statements showing how

respondents get influenced by something. Firstly, is the statement who had the highest
influential factor among these (5) statements, “I vote for whomever I think is good”,
(2.5). Followed by the statement, “I vote for whomever my friends will vote”, (1.50)
as the second highest influencing factor. Next statement which is, “I vote for
people/party that seems to be winning”, (1.49) showing a low influence factor among
these respondents. While the next is the statement, “I vote for the people/party I see
first on the list”, (1.36) also having a low influence factor among those respondents.
Lastly, the statement, “I vote for whomever my professor says”, (1.33) showing the
lowest influence factor among voters.

Affiliation to Student Council

Table 6.
Affiliation to Student Council
Statements Response Ratio
I am a student government official 2 0.97%

I am not a student government official 200 97.08%

I was a candidate in student government elections in 4 1.94%

BulSU.

The researchers presented the respondents three statements distinguishing the

respondents’ affiliation with the Student Government as follows: I am a student
government official; I am not a student government official; I was a candidate in
student government elections in BulSU. The table shows that 200 out of the 206
respondents were not student government officials while 2 of the respondents were.
Lastly, 4 out of 206 respondents were candidates during the Student Government
Elections 2017-2018.

Personal Interest
Table 7
Personal Interest
Statements Mean Standard Interpretation
Deviation
It is my right and responsibility. 2.56 0.64 Very Likely

I vote to get those I trust elected 2.42 0.69 Very Likely

I’m just following the fad 1.54 0.71 Somewhat

Likely
I vote due to the request of an individual or 1.49 0.65 Somewhat
party Likely
I know about the candidate and his/her 2.09 0.63 Very Likely
platforms and decided for oneself.
To comply with the student government 2.02 0.66 Very Likely

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

elections

The researchers presented the respondents six statements distinguishing the

respondents’ personal interests in voting during the Student Government Elections as
follows: It is my right and responsibility; I vote to get those I trust elected; I’m just
following the fad; I vote due to the request of an individual or party; I vote due to the
request of an individual or party; I know about the candidate and his/her platforms
and decided for oneself; To comply with the Student Government Elections.
The researchers have found out that highest mean that the respondents answered
were 2.55 which was the statement: It is my right and responsibility; which interprets
as moderately involved. Secondly, the statement: I vote to get those I trust elected, it
resulted to the mean of 2.40 which interprets lowly involved. Following it is the
statement: I know about the candidate and his/her platforms and decided for oneself,
which resulted to the mean of 2.09 which interprets as lowly involved. The mean of
the statement: To comply with the Student Government Elections; resulted to the
mean of 2.02 which interprets as lowly involved. The statement: I’m just following
the fad; resulted to the mean of 1.54 which interprets as lowly involved. Lastly, the
statement: I vote due to the request of an individual or party; resulted to mean of 1.48
which interprets as no involvement.
V. Discussion
Student Involvement
After getting these results, it is clearly shown that these respondents believed they
do have a role to play during elections. In the study conducted by Alida Siebken
(2017), voting is a power to make changes in one’s nation. But getting the result
shows that they are lowly involved in elections as they have low interest in student
government, respondents usually do not say a lot in discussions regarding student
government issues. In a survey done by IOP (2000) towards the attitudes of college
students regarding politics, these students reportedly perceived several barriers to
getting involved in politics because they lack confidence and did not know how to get
involved in election. The respondents also do not attend speeches, seminars or teach-
ins when student government is the topic. Lastly, they usually aren’t involved in
promoting student’s involvement and importance of their right to vote.
Overall, the respondents are lowly to moderately involved when student
government or election is to be tackled.
Frequency of Voting
According to Garmann (2016), influential scholars argued that recurrent elections
lead to voter fatigue and can therefore be responsible for low turnout. However, other
theories predict that frequent elections can even increase turnout. The existing
empirical evidence is problematic as it simply correlates election frequency with
turnout. A study conducted by Garmann, exploit a natural experiment in the German
state of Hesse, where voters from different municipalities faced the same electoral
contest but experienced different election frequency, due to the staggered timing of
some local elections. They have found out that when two elections are scheduled
within a relatively short period of time, voter turnout at the later election is
significantly reduced. This effect is stronger when the election is deemed less
important in the eyes of the voters. Election frequency thus might also partly explain
the wide turnout gap between first- and second-order elections, as suggested by
Lijphart (1997).
According to John Dewey, "democratic" is a way of associating that can exist in
homes, neighborhoods, classrooms and anywhere that people come together in

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

groups. Educating citizens to participate in democratic systems has never been the
only purpose of public education systems. In this study, 65 out of 206 did not have
any free time to vote during the Student Government Elections. In higher education,
many universities have adopted mission statements that include a strong commitment
to helping nurture a sense of civic responsibility and willingness to participate in civic
life. Educating people to be active participants in governing agencies and in their
communities and schools was an essential and pivotal role (Wilson, 2008). In this
study, it was discovered that apathetic attitudes in Student Elections are present. In the
Philippines, activism peaked in the 1960s with significant challenges to university
governance and involvement in nationwide organizing around political issues (Valte,
2014). Although history has made its mark in student activism, in this study there are
still students who do not care about student politics at all.
Political Platforms
After obtaining the results, it is clearly shown that these respondents are lowly
involved in the political platforms of each candidate. According to a study conducted
by Vanada (2010), directly involving one’s self within talks of politics gives control
over their immediate surroundings in contrast to the occasional act of voting for
elected officials. But there has been considerable debate over the extent and role of
young people's political participation. However, others argue that young people are
politically active and actively involved in their own political socialization, which is
evident when examining youth participation in protest, participatory politics, and
other forms of non-institutionalized political participation. (Earl et al., 2017). The
political involvement of students enabled it to transcend its narrow sectional interest
and transform itself into a political force with a broader social movement. There are
many components affecting the student political involvement and determining these
may help not just the locale but also the society.
Social Influence
As the results shown, influences can affect a voter’s way of voting. As said by
Allison Ledgerwood (2012), people use other people to help these people to make
their own decision in voting. Firstly, this just shows how friends moderately influence
a voter being the second highest influential factor. Next is the lowest influential
factor, professor’s suggestions don’t usually sway voter’s way of voting. Followed in
the line by the highest influential factor, can also be not considered influential because
it is someone’s owned choice for choosing a candidate whom he/she considers is
good. Ledgerwood also said that an individual might also consider looking at the
polling results to help the individual to consider who he/she will consider is good.
Next is for the bandwagon respondents, because they vote for someone or a party that
seems to be winning, this factor is lowly influential for according to the results.
Individuals are most likely to adopt whatever opinions seem to be endorsed by a
majority of a party/group, Ledgerwood said. Lastly is the second lowest influential
factor which happens to be voting for people/party they see first on the list. Overall
these factors are mixed from lowly influential up to highly influential according to the
results given by the respondents.
Affiliation to Student Council
Results have shown that only few students engage themselves in actual student
politics or running in the election itself. Being a student is hard but being a student
leader is harder. Student leaders spend a great deal of time delegating tasks, planning
events, working with budgets, and doing the administrative work their student
organizations require. Students involved as campus leaders may be at risk for low
levels of academic engagement due to their extracurricular responsibilities (Taylor &

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

Parsons, 2011). A student leader is demanded so much time and effort to meet the
certain level of skills to balance their academics and their obligations as well. Any
student engaged in a leadership position for a campus student organization that may
or may not participate in university governance (Taylor & Parsons, 2011). The
modern, rapidly changing world demands quality leadership and education is a crucial
time for young people to develop leadership skills. The traditional belief that
leadership is an inborn characteristic trait that only some people possess has changed
and been replaced with a belief that anyone can learn and improve their capacity to
lead. Higher education institutions around the world, recognizing the importance of
leadership competencies, have made it part of their educational mission to provide
students with leadership experiences (Jensen, 2017). Leadership is crucial for civic
involvement in the community, including aspects like voter turnout, religious
institutions, cultural and social groups, parent-teacher organizations etc. (Dempster &
Lizzio, 2007, p.277). Though as studies shown that being a student leader is hard, a
student leader must always remember the importance of being one. A student leader
encompasses such actions as challenging the status quo; searching for problems; new
ideas or new products; learning, personal and professional growth; addressing student
issues and finding solutions.
Personal Interest
After getting the results, the researchers have found that most of the respondents
are moderately involved in voting because it is their right and responsibility. In the
study conducted by Alida Siebken (2017), voting is a power to make changes in one’s
nation. Although voter turnout and overall political involvement has been on a steady
decline over the past decades, there has been a recent increase in voting (CIRCLE,
2005; Lopez, Kirby & Sakoff, 2005), political engagement (IOP, 2005; Young, 2004),
and participation in community problem solving. Additionally, students are reporting
more positive attitudes about politics than in the past (Young, 2004). The respondents
are lowly involved in voting candidates they trust to be elected but it is also shown
that respondents are moderately involved in knowing the candidate and his/her
platforms and decides for oneself who they will vote.
VI. Conclusion
The results of the data showed that the student voters of the College of
Architecture and Arts has various reasons why they had a low turn-out of votes during
the academic year of 2017-2018. The convenience and availability of the student
voters in the college is the prominent reason why their college garnered only 29.11%
of the voter to population ratio.
The student voters take consideration on the candidates’ political platforms
specifically that the said platform will take a leadership control on the whole
university. Society influences everyone but the student voters voted for whomever
they personally think is good enough to lead. In the affiliation of oneself to student
government, despite being affiliated to the student council, the respondents still
showed a moderate involvement towards the student government election. The
student voters believes that it is their right and responsibility to vote so that they
involve themselves in this kind of activity.
Based on the assumption cited on the introductory part, the factors given by the
researchers really do affect the student involvement regarding the student government
elections. Attempting to solve the decreasing outcome tally is recommended to the
future researchers due to time constraint of the research.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

VII. Recommendations
In line with the results of the study, the following recommendations were made:
1. Involving themselves in student government elections may help to become
more responsible citizens of the country, thus learning to be critical in a small-scale
elections will help oneself to be more effective in a country-wide development.
2. Student candidates running for seats in the student council may be the next
leaders of the country, knowing their voters and the factors affecting the mindset of
these people probably be an edge for them to be voted, and so winning the seats.
3. The university must support the student government elections by giving a free
time to the students in order to have larger turn-out of votes in each colleges. The
Commission on Student Elections to raise awareness of the ongoing student
government elections by having collaboration with the political organizations and
explain the importance of their right to suffrage alongside with the campaign period.
4. Being involved in a small-scale democracy may help being effective citizen of
a country, thus leading the society to a developed and nurtured society of critical
minds.
5. The researchers would like to recommend future researchers be designed
qualitatively in order to further know the factors that affect oneself in exercising their
right to suffrage.

VIII. References
Ainley, J., Fraillon, J., Schulz, W., (2012) ICCS 2009 Asian Report Civic knowledge
and Attitudes Among Lower-secondary Students in Five Asian Countries.
Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED544595.pdf
Ali, S., (2015) The Democratic Attitudes of Students and Their Political
Participation. Retrieved from https://www.grin.com/document/379571
Astin, A.W., (1999) Student Involvement: A Developmental Theory for Higher
Education. Retrieved from
https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/ace/downloads/astininv.pdf
Aytac, S.E., & Stokes, S., (2016) Rethinking Political Participation. Retrieved from
home.ku.edu.tr/~saytac/uploads/4/4/6/3/44632775/Introduction_webpage.pdf
Bailey, M., & Williams, L.R., (2015) Are College Students Really Liberal? An
Exploration of Student Political Ideology and Attitudes Toward Policies
Impacting Minorities. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362331916300131
Brandini, S., (2014) A Mixed Method Analysis of Students' Views of Politics.
Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815016870
Brown, L., & Ibarra, K.A., (2017) Commemoration and the Expression of Political
Identity. Retrieved from
https:/www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517718300463
Bryant Wilson, K.R., (2008) A Case Study of College Student Political
Involvement. Retrieved from
citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.872.7464&rep=rep1...
Cone, R., Cooper, D., & Hollander, E. (2001).Voting and beyond: Engaging
Students in our Representative Democracy. Retrieved from
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ627689

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

Curtice, J. (2016).A Question of Culture or Economics? Public Attitudes to the
European Union in Britain. Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-923X.12250
Dempster, N.C., & Lizzio A.J., (2007) Student Leadership: Necessary Research.
Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/29465219_Student_Leadership_Necess
ary _Research
Dewey, J., Democracy and Education. Retrieved from
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0013185 7.2016.1204742
Douglas, Joshua A. (2013) The Foundational Importance of Voting: A Response to
Professor Flanders. Retrieved from
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1297&context=law_facp
ub
Earl, J., Maher, T., & Elliot, T., Youth, activism, and social movements. Retrieved
from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/soc4.12465
Fletcher, A., (2003) Meaningful Student Involvement: A Guide to Inclusive School
Change. Retrieved from
https://studentsatthecenterhub.org/wp-content/.../04/Resources-Youth-msistories.
Pdf
Fraillon, J., Schulz, W., Ainley, J., & Achievement, I. A. for the E. of E. (2012).
ICCS 2009 Asian Report: Civic Knowledge and Attitudes among Lower-
Secondary Students in Five Asian Countries. International Association for
the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED5445
95&site=ehost-live
Galston, W.A. (2013). The Populist Challenge to Liberal Democracy, Retrieved from
https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/article/populist-challenge-liberal-
democracy
Garmann, S., Election frequency, choice fatigue, and voter turnout. Retrieved from
https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/poleco/v47y2017icp19-35. html
Harakka, M., (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of
American Community, by Robert D. Putnam. Retrieved from
https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.
com.ph/&httpsredir=1&article=1578&context=ce
Ivanov, I., Muller, D., Delmas, F., & Wanke, M., (2018) Interpersonal Accuracy in a
Political Context is Moderated by the Extremity of One's Political Attitudes.
Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103117307783

Janc, J., (2004). The Meaning Of The Student Advisory Board Leadership
Development Experience To The Student Board Members, 478. Retrieved from
https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/1454/umi-umd-1567.pdf?sequen
ce=1
Jaramillo, R., Cox, C., & Reimers, F., (2005). Education for Democratic Citizenship
in the Americas: An Agenda for Action. Retrieved from

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254423086_Education_for_Democrati
c_Citizenship_in_the_Americas_An_Agenda_for_Action
Jarvis, S.E., Montoya, L., & Mulvoy, E., (2005) The Political Participation of
College Students, Working Students and Working Youth. Retrieved from
https://civicyouth.org/PopUps/WorkingPapers/WP37Jarvis.pdf
Jensen, J., (2017) Development of Student Leadership Skills and Identity: A Case
Study at a Finnish University. Retrieved from
https://jyx.jyu.fi/bitstream/handle/123456789/56117/U RN:NBN:fi:jyu-
201712044479.pdf?sequence=1
Kirby, E. H., & Marcelo, K. B. (2005). Young voters in the 2006 election. CIRCLE:
Washington, D.C. Retrieved from
http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/FactSheets/FS-Midterm06.pdf
Laosebikan-Buggs, M.O., (2009). An Investigation of the Impact of Student
Government Involvement at One Public Historically Black University on the
Career Choice of African American Student Participants. Retrieved from
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED513677
Ledgerwood, A., & Callahan, S.P., (2012) The Social Side of Abstraction. Retrieved
from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227856770_T
he_Social_Side_of_Abstraction
Levine, P., & Lopez, M., (2002). Youth voter turnout has declined, by any measure.
CIRCLE: Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.
circle.org/research/products/fact.sheets_outside.htm
Levy, B.L.M., Journell, W., He, Y., & Towns, B., (2015). Students Blogging about
Politics: A Study of Students' Political Engagement and a Teacher's Pedagogy
During a Semester-Long Political Blog Assignment. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131515001116
Lijphart, A. (1977) Democracy in Plural Societies: A Comparative Exploration.
Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1dszvhq
Lipka, S., (2007) . Freshmen increasingly talk about politics, worry about
money, survey finds. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53 (21), A21. Retrieved
from https://www.chron.com/local/education/campus-
chronicles/article/Survey-Politic s-on-college-campuses-increasingly-11111398.php
Lopez, M. H., Kirby, E. H., & Sagoff, J., (2005). The youth vote. CIRCLE:
Washington, D.C. Retrieved from
http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/FactSheets/FS_Youth_Voting_72-04.pdf

Maheshwari,Dr. V.K. (2017) Sampling Techniques in Quantitative Research.

Retrieved from http://www.vkmaheshwari.com/WP/?p=2455
Peniel, Binu B. (2016). Research Design. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308262064_Research_Design
Person, M., (2012) Does Type of Educaiton Affect Political Participation? Results
from a Panel Survey of Swedish Adolescents. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259674634_Does_Type_of_Education_
Affect_Political_Participation_Results_from_a_Panel_Survey_of_Swedish_Adole
scents
Pryor, J.H., Hurtado, S., Saenz, V.B., Korn, J.S., Santos, J.L., & Korn, W.S. (2006).
The American Freshman: National norms for Fall 2006. Los Angeles: Higher
Education Research Institute. Retrieved from
https://immagic.com/eLibrary/ARCHIVES/GENERAL/UCLA_US/L070119H.pdf

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910

Ramos-Mrosovski, C. (2003). The great servers. National Review, 55 (19). Retrieved
from https://www.nationalreview.com/
Rivers, I., Carragher, D.J., Couzens, J., Hechler, R.C., & Fini, G.B., (2018) A
Cross-national Study of School Students’ Perceptions of Political Messages in
Two Election Campaigns. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035518303537
Saenz, V., Hurtado, S., Denson, N., Locks, A.M., & Oseguera, L. (2004). Trends in
political attitudes and voting behavior among college freshmen and early career
college graduates: What issues could drive this election? Los Angeles: Higher
Education Research Institute. Retrieved from
https://www.heri.ucla.edu/PDFs/full_political_attitudes.pdf
Spezio, E. (2002). Pedagogy and political (dis)engagement. Liberal Education, Fall,
1419. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ661282
Taylor, L. & Parsons, J. (2011). Improving Student Engagement. Current Issues in
Education,14(1). Retrieved from http://cie.asu.edu/
Teimouri, R.B., Arasli, H., Kilic., & Aghei, I., (2018). Service, Politics, and
Engagement: A Multi-level Analysis. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211973618300643
Vanada, M. (2010). Political and civic engagement attitudes among Asian American
college students. Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/62868333.pdf
Velasco, D. (2001) Rejecting “OLD-STYLE” Politics? Youth Participation in the
Philippines. Retrieved from http://library.fes.de/pdf-
files/bueros/philippinen/04526/countrypapers_philippines.pdf
Verba, S., Scholozman, K.L., & Brady, H., (1995) Voice and Equality: Civic
Voluntarism in American Politics. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=YFiCO5f0BKAC&printsec=frontcover&d
q=verba+civic+voluntarism+model+citation&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjq-
9qWg
4DgAhXKAIgKHfHoBNoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=verba%20civic%20volunt
aris m%20model%20citation&f=false
Wagner, W., & Owen, L., (2006). Frameworks for civic engagement. Presentation at
the meeting of the National Association of Student Personnel
Administrators,Washington, DC. Retrieved from
https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/CLDE/CivicPrompts.pdf
Wilson, K. R. B., & Bryant, K. R. (2008). A Case Study of College Student,
(December). Retrieved from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.872.7464&rep=rep1&
type=pdf.
Woods, M. (2002). Student Councils: A Voice for Students. Department of Education
and Science (pp. 8–28). Retrieved from https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-
Colleges/Information/Post-Primary-SchoolPolicies/student_council_voice.pdf
Young, J., (2004, January 30). Students' political awareness hits highest level in a
decade. Chronicle ofHigher Education, A30-A32. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.chron.com/local/education/campus-chronicles/article/Survey-P
olitic s-on-college-campuses-increasingly-11111398.php

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3442910