section_path: Government and politics
section_name: Government and politics
paragraph_text: Government and politics
  
  The Philippines has a democratic government, a constitutional republic with a presidential system. The president is head of state and head of government, and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected through direct election by the citizens of the Philippines for a six-year term. The president appoints and presides over the cabinet and officials of various national government agencies and institutions.: 213–214 The bicameral Congress is composed of the Senate (the upper house, with members elected to a six-year term) and the House of Representatives, the lower house, with members elected to a three-year term.
  
  Senators are elected at-large, and representatives are elected from legislative districts and party lists.: 162–163 Judicial authority is vested in the Supreme Court, composed of a chief justice and fourteen associate justices, who are appointed by the president from nominations submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council.
  
  Attempts to change the government to a federal, unicameral, or parliamentary government have been made since the Ramos administration. Philippine politics tends to be dominated by well-known families, such as political dynasties or celebrities, and party switching is widely practiced. Corruption is significant, attributed by some historians to the Spanish colonial period's padrino system. The Roman Catholic church exerts considerable but waning influence in political affairs, although a constitutional provision for the separation of Church and State exists.