INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

LESSON 4: Power and Power Structure

(Week 4: Value Added/Contribution)

As a foreword to what the group has learned and before heading to its values and the
values that can be extracted as its contribution to the nation, further elucidation is necessary to
understand its concept and its context to politics. Power, Authority, and Legitimacy firmly
ground themselves to politics. The notion of the words purposely inscribes itself to political
matters such as decision- making and influence, additionally, its attunement to its structure and
paradigm. Its relativity makes it that these concepts (when it comes to politics) become a basis of
control and rule, whether a governing rule and its enforcement to the nation or a self-imposed
exertion. The hold of these three terms already foreshadows its idea to its contribution to society
and personal conceptualization.
The disposition, Power, refers to the execution of forming decisions that entail its
disposition to have the capacity to produce results based on collective or individualized ideas.
Power does not need to be an actual source of influence to elevate its effectiveness. In fact,
power is essential through its usage without force. The use of power often refers to distinct
characterizations of control: the control as to influence others; the control to set a specific view
as to what is necessary to be viewed; and the control of oneself. Power intensifies when
augmented with authority. Power with authority means that the one who/which holds power has
the right to wield it, whether right by law or by the factuality that they must bear it. The
classification of Weber gives light to the idea of authority (traditional, charismatic, and legality).
Legitimacy conveys the legitimate authority of having power where people, law, and system
agree (validation).
In the light of this, it is now straightforward to say what power, authority, and legitimacy
can contribute to oneself and society. Firstly, we shall consider discussing the incorporation of
morality into power—one of its definitions inclines towards producing intended results and
understanding its purpose. Why must something be done? The question relates to the individual
having to decide and at the same time acknowledging that they have a reason, and that itself is
power and introspective (inward) power to self. Knowledge is power. Power then branches out in
a group or as societal interactivity. Humanity has never been estranged from getting what they
desire, and this dates way back that even, without a doubt, our ancestors have experienced.
People with power seek to control others to produce "intended" results and, by the word
intended, do something pertaining to its duality (good and bad). Power is not only an idea of an
individual but also of a collective (eg. government). The dimensions of power directly support
contemporary occurrences in society. The questions in assessing power become necessary for
further discussion "Who prevails when preferences (one to one; one to many; many to many)
conflict with one and the other?" Only with the side blessed with more power can prevail,
whether because of a better argument or reason or because of authority and legitimacy. "Who
controls whether preferences are expressed?" This question refers to a person who gets to hold
control over what preference must become known. "Who shapes preferences?" As I mentioned
earlier, power is already present to those who decide and think their standpoint. When we come
to think of it, in contemporary times, who can have absolute power? It is people with money or
with a position in the government (authority and legitimacy). Only negativity becomes apparent,
especially in the subject of power, yet contemporary times say it all. It justifies why morality,
especially in discussing the values of the topic and its contribution, takes part in this matter. The
duality of power can either be righteous or be for own personal gain. The righteousness of power
goes back to what I have mentioned earlier. Power is at its peak effectiveness without
implementing force (can be pointed towards the usage of money and its influence).
Authority and legitimacy also have their parts to play in society. Political figures or even
an average person with authoritative power is portrayed as leaders because of expertise, law,
coercion, and legitimacy. Social contract theorists conveyed a relatively upright notion about
power consensus. They point out states of nature and notes about the man's life with the power of
making decisions or even the most straightforward thought of life's characteristics—short,
peaceful (though often in conflict), and moral. These theorists then connect power in social
living. Their notions are quite short, yet they mean a significant amount about the values power
can give as an individual and as a society. They say that people enter a social contract where they
give in to sovereignty and give up their rights for peace and protection (natural to civil liberty).
Rousseau believes in man's will and that when augmented with power and at the same time in a
social contract, a general will could exist out of man's ability to think and its concerns. Man has
the right to live and therefore submit to an authoritative power, supported by goodness, law, and
legitimacy, that protects his liberty and property.
In conclusion, even with authority and legitimacy, we can say that power depicts itself as
a double-edged sword. Man's intrinsic capabilities (man's will) shape the duality of power that is
possibly used in the means of either repression or righteousness. After all, man wields this
sword, and they are the ones who also yield because of it. The national constitution already
expresses itself as power by law, and people submit to its sovereignty. However, those who
constructed it also have an authoritative power to change and bend it. A maxim states, "with
great power come great responsibility," which relates to humans with extensive yet limited
power to remain conscientious. What values are extracted and have come to light from power?
Righteousness, responsibility, moral reasoning, and wisdom. What are its contributions to
society? Peace, safety, and sovereignty are some in top of the list.
 INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE
LESSON 5: Theory, Nature and Dynamics of State
(Week 4: Apply/Adapt)
Indeed, as a branch of social science, political science and politics cover a wide array of
concepts and idea. Saying that, one could define politics as complicated and complex matter.
However, little by little, political science can be understood enough and later will lead us to
realize the complexity that everything in our surroundings encompasses. Lesson 5 highlights that
all human activities such as employment, market activities, education, and a lot more things even
the personal or private life are all under the authority of the state. Saying that, everything that
exist in our societies are shadowed with state.
First of all, as an introduction to political science, it is essential to understand the concept
of state. How it emerged, its kinds, and how it can be seen in the contemporary times. To go
further, it is important to remember from Lesson 4 about the notion of power, authority and
legitimacy as these concepts are involved in Lesson 5. The best takeaway from this lesson is that
state is about subordination. Subordination means that there is an entity that has the authority and
control over the others and power is an important element of it. Moreover, subordination also
means that decisions from higher ups should be penetrated among subordinates, thus an exercise
of legitimation. Max Stirner (1845) says that ‘The purpose of the State is always the same: to
limit the individual, to tame him, to subordinate him, to subjugate him.’ Putting this in mind,
undoubtedly saying, we are all under the control of the state and even our freedom is within the
borders of the state.
State, according to Heywood, is a political association that establishes sovereign
jurisdiction within defined territorial borders and exercises authority through a set of
permanent institutions. Therefore, countries that governs a particular territory and has self-
governing political entities such as institutions are state. Moreover, a state is a state if and only it
holds the important elements namely: People, Territory, Government and Sovereignty. Presently,
there are almost 200 states across the world. The interesting thing about having a lot of states in
the world is that each state has a diverse dynamic due to different approaches relevant to their
nations, history, external influences, and a lot more factors. State can be seen in different
perspectives/approaches such as idealist, functional, and organizational, but presently, states is
viewed mostly as organizational because this view highlights collective organization of social
existence in the public’s expense. Like in the Philippines and other counties, we view the state as
organizational because it serves as an apparatus of government that includes institutions that are
identified as public. This view also emphasizes the separation of the people in authority from the
associations of the people or the Civil society. However, this idea contradicts on the present
scenario in the Philippines in which private organizations or even party lists that are supposed to
be independent and represent marginalized sectors are now frequently seen as a propaganda of
politicians, who are obviously people in authority, for their personal interests in political career.
Furthermore, it is important to assess the overall functioning of a state and it can be done initially
in looking to the highest person in authority which in the case of the Philippines is the President
who is also the highly influential and the person that operates and influences all the institution or
the society in general. In the Philippine context, does the state adheres to the best interest of the
people or of their personal. In a sense, lesson 5 drives us to question our state if it is beneficial to
the people, or is it just an instrument of class oppression, as what the Capitalists state theory
defines.
We can say that the state creates positive development and impact to a country in general
through eradication of poverty, providing projects and programs that are beneficiary for the
public and many more that are evidently gearing towards positive changes. However, we can’t
deny that the states in different part of the world at some point owns and concentrates the power
to them over the people and creating decisions that are oppressive. With this, having a clear
understanding on how the state plays is important so that the people will also understand on how
to play along with the authority.
Moving on, as a valuable part of this lesson, state should be understood as a different
concept from nation whereas the latter focuses on the shared civic consciousness while the
former mainly focuses on authority considering the mentioned elements. However, there are
some nations that are considered nation-state which offers prospect of both cultural cohesion and
political unity. As an example, Philippines is a nation state because it has a defined nationality
which is Filipino and along with that, it has a state, thus calling it as a nation state. The very
important of a nation state, is of course nationality which brings the sense of belonging.
Lesson 5 has presented a lot of information to know about state and its relevance to
political science. It has been very wide, but it teaches that different countries and states are all
bounded together with different approaches, operations, and from that, we can identify through a
comparative analysis of different states across the world which states are performing well and
which are not, but that is an another story.