Maria Ela L. Atienza

Maria Ela L. Atienza, PhD

Professor of Political Science
UP Scientist III

Bulwagang Silangang Palma
Africa Street
University of Philippines Diliman, Quezon City

mlatienza@up.edu.ph
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Maria Ela L. Atienza, PhD is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. She is currently Editor of the Philippine Political Science Journal (the Scopus and internationally-refereed journal of the Philippine Political Science Association [PPSA] published by Brill), President of the Pi Gamma Mu Honor Society (Philippine Alpha Chapter), Chair of Division VIII (Social Sciences) of the National Research Council of the Philippines, and member of the Board of Trustees of the Social Weather Stations, Inc. and the Social Sciences and Philosophy Research Foundation. She also served as Director of the UP Third World Studies Center (2010-2013), President of the PPSA (2007-2009), and Co-Convenor of the Program on Social and Political Change, UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (CIDS) (2018-2023). 

She obtained her BA (magna cum laude) and MA degrees (1992 and 1993) both in Political Science (BA-MA Honors Program), from UP Diliman; Executive Masters degree in European and International Relations (with distinction) from the Amsterdam School of International Relations, University of Amsterdam (1998); and PhD in Political Science (2003) from the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University, Japan. 

Professor Atienza’s research interests and publications cover local governance and devolution, human security, health policy and politics, among other topics. She was co-investigator in a three-year project on poverty alleviation in areas affected by super typhoon Haiyan and co-authored the book Urban Poverty in the Wake of Environmental Disaster (Routledge, 2019) with Pauline Eadie and May Tan-Mullins. She co-edited with Teresa Encarnacion Tadem the book A Better Metro Manila? Towards Responsible Governance, Decentralization, and Equitable Development (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023). Her recently finished research projects and publications are on constitutional performance assessment of the 1987 Philippine Constitution (particularly in the areas of the judiciary and local governments), localization in humanitarianism and humanitarian diplomacy, and charter change debates. She has published in the following indexed journals: Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, Asian Survey, Disaster Prevention and Management, Natural Hazards, and Philippine Political Science Journal. Her book chapters have been published by The Brookings Institution, ISEAS, Palgrave MacMillan, Routledge and Springer. 

She is the recipient of the first Young Scholar Dissertation Award (2006) from the International Society for Third Sector Research for her dissertation, the Yasuhiro Nakasone Incentive Award (2007) from the Institute for International Policy Studies, and the 2014 National Research Council of the Philippines’ Achievement Award for Division VIII (Social Sciences) and conferred Scientist III by the UP Scientific Productivity System for 2020-22 and 2023-25. She is currently Visiting Professor (non-resident) of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, 2024-2027, mainly involved in the current collaborative research project on Filipino nurses’ migration to the United Kingdom and return and reintegration in the Philippines as well as developing future collaborative projects involving the UP and Anglia Ruskin University.

She is also active in training and extension programs for social sciences and political science teachers, policy staff, development workers, personnel of government agencies, local government officials, and bureaucrats as well as serving as resource person on key political and social issues for several Philippine legislative committees, executive agencies, professional associations, the private sector, and media (international and local). 

Education

  • PhD Political Science, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University, 2003
  • Executive Masters in European and International Relations (with distinction), Amsterdam School of International Relations (ASIR), University of Amsterdam, 1998
  • MA Political Science (Honors), University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1993
  • BA Political Science (Honors), magna cum laude, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1992

Research Interests

Local politics and governance; devolution and central-local relations; human security; health policy and politics; constitutional reform

Recent Publications

  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2024. “Duterte’s Federalism and Constitutional Change Project: From Campaign Promise to Abandoned Reform”, pp. 119-146. In Arugay, Aries A. and Encinas-Franco, Jean (eds.), Games, Changes, and Fears: The Philippines from Duterte to Marcos Jr. Singapore: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.
  • Tadem, Teresa S. Encarnacion and Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2023. “Introduction: The Search for Alternative Models for Responsible Local Governance”, pp. 1-27. In Tadem, T.S.E., Atienza, M.E.L. (eds), A Better Metro Manila?; Towards Responsible Local Governance, Decentralization and Equitable Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7804-3_1
  • Tadem, Teresa S. Encarnacion and Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2023. “The Evolving Empowerment of Local Governments and Promotion of Local Governance in the Philippines: An Overview”, pp. 29-86. In Tadem, T.S.E., Atienza, M.E.L. (eds), A Better Metro Manila?; Towards Responsible Local Governance, Decentralization and Equitable Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7804-3_2
  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2023. “The State of Health, Health Service Delivery, and Equity of Access in Metro Manila: Challenges and Possible Ways Forward”, pp. 193-219. In Tadem, T.S.E., Atienza, M.E.L. (eds), A Better Metro Manila?; Towards Responsible Local Governance, Decentralization and Equitable Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7804-3_6
  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. and Tadem, Teresa S. Encarnacion. 2023. “Reforms and Ways Forward for Responsible Governance, Decentralization, and Equitable Development”, pp 489–518. In Tadem, T.S.E., Atienza, M.E.L. (eds), A Better Metro Manila?; Towards Responsible Local Governance, Decentralization and Equitable Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7804-3_16
  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2022. “Addressing corruption and pursuing democratic governance in the Philippines”, pp. 8-14. In Ryan Hass and Patricia M. Kim (eds.), Democracy in Asia. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, December. Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/product/democracy-in-asia/
  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2022. “The Philippines under Lockdown: Continuing Executive Dominance and an Unclear Pandemic Response”, pp. 445-456. In Joelle Grogan and Alice Donald (eds.), Routledge Handbook on of Law and the COVID-19 Pandemic (1st ed.). Routledge. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003211952
  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. and Quilala, Dennis. 2021. “Nongovernment Organizations in Humanitarian Activities in the Philippines: Local Contributions in Post-Disaster Settings and Implications for Humanitarian Action and Diplomacy”. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics (6) (4) (December): 345-359. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911211058146
  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. and Quilala, Dennis. 2021. “The Role of Civil Society in Disaster Response—The Philippine Experience”, pp. 79-83. In A. D. B. Cook and L. Gong (eds.), Humanitarianism in the Asia-Pacific: Engaging the Debate in Policy and Practice. SpringerBriefs in Political Science. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4874-5_14
  • Tan-Mullins, May; Eadie, Pauline; and Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2021. “Evolving social capital and networks in the post-disaster rebuilding process”. Asia Pacific Viewpoint 62 (1) (April 2021): 56-71. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.12268
  • Eadie, Pauline; Atienza, Maria Ela; and Tan-Mullins, May. 2020. “Livelihood and vulnerability in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda: lessons of community and resilience”. Natural Hazards 103 (1) (August 2020): 211-230. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-03984-z
  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2020. “The Philippines in 2019: Consolidation of Power, Unraveling of the Reform Agenda.” Asian Survey Vol. 60 No. 1 (January/February): 132-139. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1525/AS.2020.60.1.132
  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2019. “The Philippines in 2018: Broken Promises, Growing Impatience.” Asian Survey 59, no. 1 (January/February): 185-192. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2019.59.1.185
  • Atienza, Maria Ela; Eadie, Pauline; Tan-Mullins, May. 2019. Urban Poverty in the Wake of Environmental Disaster: Rehabilitation, Resilience and Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). London: Routledge (Taylor and Francis Group). doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315210056
  • Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2019. “Human Security in Practice: The Philippine Experience from the Perspective of Different Stakeholders”, pp. 159-181. In Human Security Norms in East Asia, edited by Yoichi Mine, Oscar A. Gómez and Ako Muto. Palgrave Macmillan. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97247-3_7

Courses Taught

  • POLSC 11: Introduction to Political Science
  • POLSC 14: Philippine Politics
  • POLSC 110: Political Analysis
  • POLSC 111: Qualitative Research Methods
  • POLSC 154: Philippine Local Politics
  • POLSC 121: Society & Politics
  • POLSC 133: European Politics
  • POLSC 199: Research Design in Political Science
  • POLSC 211: Advanced Qualitative Research Methods
  • POLSC 254: Philippine Local Politics
  • POLSC 270: Theories in Comparative Politics
  • POLSC 274: European States