POLSCI 101

MODULE 1

I- The Government

The word government is derived from the Latin word gubernaculum meaning a “rudder”
and “gubernare” which means “to stare” direct or control “Government therefore is the
rudder which means steer the ship of the state. It is the collective name which makes
the government and agency or instrumentally through which the will of the state is
formulated, expressed and realized”. As an agency and an inherent element of the
state, the government must exist and should continue to exist for the benefit of the
people governed.

Function of Government

1. Constituent function – Those which constitute the bond if society, and are
therefore, compulsory in nature for example:
a. The keeping of order and providing for the protection of persons and property from
violence and robbery;
b. The definition and punishment of crimes
c. The administration of justice in civil cases
d. The determination of political duties, privileges and relations of citizen
e. Dealing of the state with foreign powers; the preservation of the state from external
danger of encroachment and advancement of its international interest

2. Ministrant function – Those under taken by way of advancing the general interest
of society, and are therefore optional, such as public works, public education, public
charity, health and safety regulations of trade and commerce.

Forms
The of Government
Aristotelian Classification

Number of Rulers Rule in the General Interest Self- Interested Rule

One Monarchy Tyranny
Few Aristocracy Oligarchy
Many Polity Democracy or ochlocracy

According to Aristotle, if sovereignty resides in one person, it is Monarchy. It is

perverted form is Tyranny. If sovereignty resides in a small minority of the population, it
is Aristocracy. If this small minority uses the sovereignty for its own selfish end, it is
Oligarchy.
Government by One

1. Monarchy – A form of government in which the supreme power or authority is in the

hands of a single person the ruler is a monarch who comes from a royal family. His
royal title may be queen, emperor, empress, tzar of tsarina, or any royal title of a
monarch ruling the state. It can be classified into;

a. Absolute monarchy- where the ruler rules by divine right, this type of monarchial
government the monarch exercises absolute powers, He wields executive
legislative and judicial powers. With the absolute tremendous powers, he rules
with an iron hand. He holds the throne by hereditary right and most especially,
according to King James I of England, 1603-1605 by divine right king James
declared “that are not only God’s lieutenants on earth” but they are looked at by
God as divine.

b. Limited monarchy – In Limited monarchy, the monarch is willing to part with

some of his powers and delegates them to some government agencies. For
example, the legislative power is exercised by the legislative body, the judicial
power by the courts and executive power by the king himself. He rules in
accordance with law, especially the constitution. Limited monarchy or
enlightened monarchy is rated the best form of government. It worked most
effectively because the monarch under constitutional rule guaranteed that
policies needed to maximize political, social and economic stability were
implemented.

Government by the Few

2. Aristocracy- That in which the supreme power or authority is vested upon a few a
privileged class whose right arises from the fact or birth, wealth or wisdom. It is known
as oligarchy. Aristocracy is defined from the Greek etymology aristo which means best
and kratia or kratos rule. In essence, therefore, aristocracy is a government by the best
member of the community. This implies that aristocrats are presumably men of the
highest intelligence and integrity. They belong to the elite in the society. The quality of
an aristocrat is corresponding to that Plato’s philosophy in his Republic, viewed the
ideal state as governed by wise and devoted rulers.
3. Oligarchy – is also known as government by the wealthy few but they do not come
from the nobility like the aristocrats. The wealthy few in the government, or the
oligarchs, believe that the most important requisites to claim power are wealth, good
social position and education. Oligarch are the enemies of the poor; oligarch have no
qualms of charity for the poor.
Oligarchy and Aristocracy are also authoritarian, just as monarchy and dictatorship are,
since there are no elections and no referendums in which the citizens participate. In
fact, the majority representatives. This is also true in plutocracies (rule by the rich).
These authoritarian governments do not allow people to organize political parties and
interest groups.
Government by the Many
4. Democracy – That in which the supreme power of authority is vested upon a majority
means or mass of people. It derived from the Greek term demos, which means people,
and kratia or kratos to rule. In other words, democracy means people’s rule or in the
words of great American President “a government by the people, of the people and for
the people” this is ideal democracy which people everywhere are striving to attain.
There are two types of Democracy:
a. Pure Democracy- where people govern themselves directly and not through
representatives
b. Indirect Democracy- Where people govern through chosen representatives
A democratic government must be a living and working instrument mentality to
institutionalize democracy ideals in order to make them more effective and more
meaningful. What we mean by this statement is that a government composed of public
officers so chosen or selected by the people must act responsively in accordance with
the will of the people.

Institutional Types of Government

1. Unitary Government – A unitary government concentrates governmental powers
in one organ, the central or national government to which constituent or local
government units owe their existence and from which they derive their power and
functions

Most countries today have a unitary system of government, what may be the
reasons why they favor this institution form? The unitary system has been found
to have a strong foundation and a more effective political authority of the
sovereign ruler over the people, to attain with faster facility the desirable goals
and objective of the state.

At this point it is therefore important to know the advantages and disadvantages

of a unitary government

Advantages:

a. Simple in structure
 b. No duplication of offices and services with those of the central and national
government, insuring greater economy in governmental expenditures
c. There is uniformity of laws and public policy and administration of government
d. There is no conflict of jurisdiction between local and national government
e. It easy to pinpoint responsibility for any inefficiency of government
Disadvantages:
a. Over Centralized administrative control over local affairs overburdens the
central government with numerous local problems.
b. In a unitary state national official are responsible for determining policies to
regulate the conduct of local affairs. They may not be able to formulate
effective policies that are suitable to a certain locality because they lack
adequate knowledge of the local conditions prevailing in that area.
c. Unitary government restrain local initiative and interest managing the affairs
of the local government.
d. A unitary government hastens the creation of a large centralized bureaucracy.
e. Unitary government is generally not suitable to a large country with culturally
heterogenous population. Local problems required appropriate measures for
the solution of the problem

2. Federal Government- A federal government is one in which government power is

divided between the central government and its local government units as
specified in the constitution of the state.

Generally, a federal government is well adopted to a large country populated by

people of different races, nationalities, cultures, languages and religions.
However, there are also medium sized and small states which are federal.
Examples of Large federal states are United States of America, Canada, India,
Australia, Brazil, Pakistan, Mexico and Germany. Austria and Switzerland which
are small nation state also have a federal system of government.

It is also necessary to look into the advantages and disadvantages of a federal

government

Advantages:

a. Since governmental powers are divided between central/federal government

and its constituent units, each government is independent in its sphere of
jurisdiction. (The federal govt. dealing with the national/international matters
and the local govt. with the problems that are local or regional in nature.
b. Federal government also provides uniformity when it is needed in terms of
federal laws, policies and administration, and allows wide diversity of local
 policies to determined and promulgated by local officers in their respective
localities.
c. Interest of the people in their local government is enhanced.
d. It relieves the national govt. of time-consuming efforts in solving local
problems.
e. Federalism provides great opportunities for local government to experiment
on new legislative and administrative methods of solving people’s problem.
Disadvantages:
a. The structure and organization of a Federal government is complex
b. There is duplication of offices and personnel and maintaining the operation of
the governmental system would cause a heavy financial burden to the
government.
c. Overlapping of functions
d. Lack of uniform legislation on many matters makes the problems of
administration more difficult.

3. Presidential System – In the presidential form of government, the executive

power is exercised by a single president elected by popular vote. He holds office
for a specific period of time as fixed by the Constitution of the state. He appoints
the members of his Cabinet who are his alter egos and responsible to him only.
The cabinet members serve at the pleasure and mercy of the President.

As essential element of the presidential system is the separation of powers of the

executive, legislative and judicial branches which is made more effective by
checks and balances of the three branches. Originally the principle of separation
of powers between the three branches of government was intended to balance
the power of the executive, legislative and judicial bodies in their relationship with
one another to promote good government.

4. Parliamentary System – Under this form of government the executive power

belongs to the Prime Minister and his cabinet. They are the leaders of the
majority party in the Parliament and they remain in the office as long as they
have the confidence and support of the parliamentary majority. They participate
in the parliamentary debates and defend their policies and bills, and see to it that
they are approved for the nation’s welfare and for their respective constituents
since they are also elected as member of Parliament.

They are responsible to Parliament for their acts and decisions as members of
the cabinet. The Prime Minister and his cabinet are removable by Parliament by
means of parliamentary censure on the members of cabinet and a no confidence
vote against the Prime Minister. In such a case the Prime Minister may dissolve
Parliament and his cabinet may resign or Prime Minister may dissolve a
parliament and call for a general election. However, dissolution may not take
place at all as in the case of the British system because parties are disciplined
the majority party members in Parliament support their leaders: The Prime
Minister and the Cabinet. In turn, the Prime Minister and the cabinet lend their
electoral support to the members during elections.

Most outstanding among other features of the parliamentary system are: (1)
collective ministerial responsibility (2) Fusion of executive and legislative power;
(3) Cabinet responsibility to parliament and (4) Party Discipline