GPOUP 6

POWER, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY

 Political System
- is the institution that meets the society’s needs for protection from external enemies, resolution of
group differences, and internal order, pursuit of societal goal.
-The central concern of political institution on policy is POWER.
Types of Political System
1. DEMOCRACY
 The term democracy comes from Greek word and means “rule of the people.”
 A political system in which citizens govern themselves either directly or indirectly.
 Democracy is “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
 In direct (or pure) democracies, people make their own decisions about the policies and
distribution of resources that affect them directly.
2. MONARCHY
 A political system in which power resides in a single family that rules from one generation to the
next generation.
 The power the family enjoys is traditional authority, and many monarchs command respect
because their subjects bestow this type of authority on them. Other monarchs, however, have
ensured respect through arbitrary power and even terror. 
3. AUTHORITARIANISM AND TOTALITARIANISM
 General terms for nondemocratic political systems ruled by an individual or a group of
individuals who are not freely elected by their populations and who often exercise arbitrary
power.
 Authoritarian and totalitarian regimes are more unstable politically because their leaders do not
enjoy legitimate authority and instead rule through fear.
6 elements of totalitarian rule
1. Single political power
2. Control of the economy
3. Control of weapon
4. Ideology
5. Terror
6. Control of media
 POLITICS
- The art or science of influencing people on a civic, or individual level, when there are more than 2
people involved.

 Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to
behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions,
including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of social relations involving
authority or power, the regulations of political units and the methods and tactics used to formulate and
apply social policy.

 POWER
-is frequently defined as the ability to influence the behavior of others with or without resistance.
2 TYPES OF POWER
1. Legitimate Power
 Is a power exercise by leaders that is generally approved or accepted as appropriate by members
of a group or a society.
2. Coercion Power
 Is a power based on a threat or use of force, and is therefore considered as illegitimate by the
people who are forced to act against their will.

 SOCIETY
 - All people who live in the same country and share the same laws and customs or an organization with
members who share similar interest and aims.

How culture and society related?

 Culture and society are intricately related. A culture consists of the “object” of the society,
whereas a society consists of the people who share a common culture. When the terms culture
and society first acquired the currents meaning, most people in the world worked and lived in
small group in the same locale. In today’s world of 6 billion people, these terms has lost some of
their usefulness because increasing numbers of people interest and share resource globally. Still
people tend to use culture and society in a more traditional sense for example being a part of a
racial culture within the larger U.S society.

THEORIES OF POWER AND SOCIETY:

1. Pluralist Theory: A Functionalist Perspective

 The smooth running of society is a central concern of functionalist theory. When applied to the
issue of political power, functionalist theory takes the form of pluralist theory.
 Pluralist theory assumes that political power in democracies is dispersed among several veto
groups that compete equally for resources and influence.
2. Elite Theories: Conflict Perspectives
 Elite theories assume that power is instead concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy
individuals and organizations that exert inordinate influence on the government and can shape its
decisions to benefit their own interests.
3. Assessing Pluralist and Elite Theories
 Pluralist and elite theories have much to offer, but neither type of theory presents a complete
picture. Pluralist theory errs in seeing all special-interest groups as equally powerful and
influential.

 STATE
- Group or groups of people, permanently occupying a definite territory.
- It is composed of numerous societies united by a common sense of right and mutual participation of its
members.
(Cicero, an eminent Roman orator and writer)

FOUR ELEMENTS OF STATE

-people
-territory
-government
-sovereignty

POLITICAL BEHAVIOR OF FILIPINOS

Since Philippine politics is democratic in nature, the powers exercised by the officials are responsible to
the people. Elected officials are expected to exercise their power of their respective offices to serve people they
represent. The existence of Nepotism and the practice of Graft and corruption became the background of
Filipino because of strong influence of family. Kinship ties and loyalties are important in exerting pressures on
government officials to consider family or private interest above public welfare.