Political Science

• Branch of social science that deals with the systematic study of the state and government.

• It encompasses almost everything about political matters, including the evolution, growth and development,
organizations and functions of the state.

• “It begins and ends with the state”-Dr. James W. Garner.

• It is a part of the social sciences that deals with the study of politics, power, and government.

• In turn, politics refers to “the process of making collective decisions in a community, society, or group through the
application of influence and power.”

• “Man by nature a political animal”-Aristotle

Politics

- Defining politics is not an easy task.

- There is no single definition of politics and no universal agreement about the scope of politics.
- Politics is ubiquitous – it is everywhere

Manifestations of Politics

• Manifest/loud/visible

• There is obviously politics when lawmakers debate intensely over a bill in Congress, or when the President
declares state of emergency, or when local governments enforce curfews.

• Latent/subtle/discreet

• Politics can also be silent when we pay more than what is necessary for goods and services that we purchase,
when we accept rules that we are not even aware of their making, or when we comply without necessarily
understanding why.

Remember:

• Silent or otherwise, politics professes to be dual in character---desirable and undesirable.

• Desirable- politics is important in the functioning of society or community.

• Undesirable- politics can be associated with undesirable practices like corruption and violence.

• Desirable or not, politics affects everyone (!!)

Politics as an authoritative allocation of values in society

• From David Easton’s work entitled, “A Systems Approach to the Analysis of Political Life” published in 1957.

• Focuses on politics as a complex set of interaction between inputs and outputs, internal and external
environments, feedback, and the political system.

Definition of Terms

• Inputs- demands and supports that are fed into the political system.

• Demands - can be anything the citizens and groups in society would want or ask their governments to
provide or respond to.

• Supports - take the form of a favorable political environment characterized by the presence of enabling
laws and rules, openness of political system, public support etc.

• Outputs- decisions and policies that result out of the political system
 • Environment- shapes how the demands and supports get fed into the system and how the system processes them
into decisions and policies.

• Internal - refers to the actual geopolitical, physical, and territorial boundaries that are legally and
rightfully recognized inside and outside of the state.

• External - refers to the confluence of foreign influences, forces, and dynamics that lie beyond the
boundaries of the state.

• Political System- has the right and discretion to screen demands and to process only the most urgent and salient.

• Feedback loop- serves as the means to communicate to political system the response of the public to the
decisions and policy outputs of the government.

Systems Theory

Politics as “who gets what, when, and how”

• Politics functions like a battlefield or battleground where political actors try to subdue each other by any
means to get what they want or the most of what they can get, either for public good or private gain.

Power

o Came from Latin word potere, meaning ‘to be able’

o The currency of politics.
o It enables collective decisions to be made and enforced.
o Power is the key political resource that enables rulers both to serve and to exploit their subjects.

The Three Faces of Power

 Decision-making:
 Based on the work of Robert Dahl who said that the person who wins an argument, has the
power.
 Dahl articulated this view as: A has power over B to the extent that A can get B to do
something that B would not otherwise do.
 Agenda-setting
 Originated from the works of Bachrach and Baratz.
 According to them, there is also power when the decision- making process is limited only to
include those issues which the powerful think should be brought to public deliberation.
 You have real power when you decide the agenda.
 Preference-shaping
 According to Lukes, a more effective and insidous form of power is exercised when A shapes
B’s very preferences.
 As Lukes ask himself:
o Is it not the supreme and most insidious use of power to prevent people, to whatever
degree, from having grievances by shaping their perceptions, cognitions, and
preferences in such a way that they accept their role in the existing order of things,
 either, because they can see or imagine no alternative to it, or because they see it as
natural and unchangeable, or because they value it as divinely ordained and
beneficial? (Lukes 1974, 24 cited in Hay 2002).

Authority

o Simply defined as legitimate power.

o Authority is power cloaked in legitimacy or rightfulness.
o Where power is the capacity to act, authority is the acknowledged right to do so.
o Authority is the right to rule. Authority create its own power so long as people accept that the person in authority
has the right to make decisions.
o Yet authority remains more than voluntary compliance. To acknowledge the authority of rulers does not always
mean you agree with the decisions; it means only that you accept their right to make decisions and your own
duty to obey.

Weber’s Classification of Authority

 Traditional Authority
 Based on ‘piety for what actually, allegedly or presumably has always existed.’
 Traditional rulers do not need to justify their position; rather, obedience is required as part of
the natural order.
 For example, monarchs rule because they always have done so; to demand any justification
would itself challenge the tradition.
 Charismatic Authority
 This type contrasts sharply with authority based on tradition.
 Where traditional allegiance is founded in the past, charismatic authority spurns history.
 The charismatic prophet looks forward, convincing followers that the promised land is within
reach. Such leaders are obeyed because they inspire their followers, who credit their savior
with exceptional and even supernatural qualities.
 Legal-rational Authority
 In here, obedience is owed to rules rather than rulers, resulting in government based on
regulations rather than tradition or charisma.
 Legal-rational authority inheres in a role or a position, not a specific person.
 Setting out the extent of an officeholder’s authority reveals its limits and so provides an
opportunity for redress. In this way, legal-rational authority offers a foundation for individual
rights and provides an essential component of liberal democracy.


Power vs Authority
 The Concept of State

State

- A community of persons more or less numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of territory, having a
government of their own to which the great body of inhabitants render obedience, and enjoying freedom from external
control.
- Government changes but state endure
- “A good citizen makes a good state” –Aristotle
- Why state developed?
o Maintain order
o Population increase, food production becomes complex
o External conflict give motivation for state development.

State Nation
● An independent political entity with fixed geographic  A large body of people united by common origin,
boundaries. history, culture, ethnicity, or language
● Refers to a territory  Refers to a group of people
● Has a fixed territory  Does not have a fix territory
● A political and legal entity  A socio-cultural entity
● Can be created consciously  Cannot be created consciously.
● Cannot exist without sovereignty  Can exist without sovereignty.
● United by laws and regulations  United by bonds and shared histories
● A state may be made up of one or more nations.  May or may not constitute a state. A nation can also
Example is United Kingdom be comprised of different states. Example is Arab
nation

Elements of a State

1. People
 A state must have a group of people constituting its membership.
 There is no definite rule governing the number of inhabitants which a community must have in
order to be entitled to recognition
 however, the requirements of international existence demand that there be a sufficient number of
them to sustain life and to enable it to fulfill its international obligation.
2. Territory
 This includes the terrestrial, fluvial, maritime, and aerial domains of the state.
 National Territory of the Philippines (Art. 1 of the 1987 Phil. Constitution):
o The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and
waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has
sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains,
including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other
submarine areas. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the
archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal
waters of the Philippines.
3. Government
 Agency through which the will of the state is formulated, express and carried out. Every state must
have a government. The standard form is immaterial.
 The form of government or the people in the government may change at any given moment through a
revolution but the state shall remain, unless it has been invaded by another state.
 Administration vs. government
 Functions
o The form of government or the people in the government may change at any given
moment through a revolution but the state shall remain, unless it has been invaded by
another state.
o Administration vs. government
o Constituent- social order; mandatory
 o Ministrant- social welfare, projects; optional
4. Sovereignty
 Refers to the supreme and independent power of the state to manage its internal affairs and to be free
from external control.
 Two features
 Two features:
 a. Internal sovereignty- complete power to rule over the people in the state.
 b. External sovereignty- freedom from foreign rule.

Inherent Powers of the State

Police Power

- Salus Populi Est Suprema Lex

- This is the power of the state to enact laws, ordinances or rules designed to promote the safety, health, peace, good order
and morals of the community.
- Parens patriae

Eminent Domain

- This is the right of the state to acquire private property for public use upon payment of just compensation and observance
of due process.
- Expropriation- procedure by which the government takes possession of private property
- Constitutional limitation in the exercise of this power: acquiring private property without just compensation

Power of Taxation

- This is the power of the state to impose and collect revenue for public purposes.
- It is exercised by the state through the national legislature or congress.
o Taxing power is justified by:
 Necessity Theory
 Benefit Protection Theory
 Taxes- lifeblood of the government

These three inherent powers are necessary attributes of sovereignty and are enduring and indestructible as the state itself.

Police power is vested in the legislature by the constitution to make, and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable laws,
statutes, and ordinances, either with or without penalties, not repugnant to the constitution, as they are judged to be for the good
and welfare of the people.

Forms of Government

1. As to the number of persons exercising sovereign powers (monarchy and democracy):

o Monarchy
 authority is in the hands of a single person without regard to the source of his election or the nature or
duration of his tenure.
 It is divided into two types: Absolute monarchy and Limited monarchy.
 Absolute monarchy-the ruler rules by divine right. The ruler exercises absolute power.
o Examples: King Salman of Saudi Arabia, King Mswati III of eSwatini/Swaziland
 Limited monarchy/constitutional monarchy - a country is ruled by a monarch whose power
is limited by a constitution. In other words, the monarch acts as the head of state within the
parameters of the constitution (a written or unwritten constitution).
o Examples: (Asia) Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan, King Norodom
Sihamoni of Cambodia, King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand, King Jigme Khesar
Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan, Abdullah of Pahang- the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
 (Europe) King Charles III of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  Countries that recognize King Charles III as their Head of
State
 Antigua and Barbuda, Australia , The Bahamas, Belize, Canada,
Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts
and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon
Islands, Tuvalu
 (still Europe) King Frederik X of Denmark, King Willem-Alexander of The
Netherlands, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Harald V of Norway
 (Africa) King Letsie III of Lesotho

o Democracy
 Rule of the many
 Form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them
or by their elected representatives under a free electoral system.
 Two types: Direct or Pure democracy and Indirect or Representative democracy
 Direct democracy- one which the will of the state is formulated or expressed directly and
immediately through the people in a mass meeting or a primary assembly.
 Indirect democracy-one which the will of the state is formulated or expressed through the
agency of a relatively small and select body of persons chosen by the people to act as their
representatives.

2. As to the relationship between the executive and the legislative branches of the government (presidential and
parliamentary)
o Presidential
 There is separation of powers between the executive and legislative.
 The executive branch is constitutionally independent of the legislature.
 The president is directly elected by the people.
 The president serves as both the head of state and head of the government.
 Example: Philippines
o Parliamentary
 There is fusion of powers.
 The executive (Prime Minister) as well as the cabinet ministers are part of the legislature.
 The Prime Minister is chosen by the members of the Parliament. Usually, the leader of the party in
power is chosen.
 The head of state is different from the head of the government.
 Head of State- King/Queen/President- symbolical powers.
 Head of the Government-Prime Minister-political powers
 Example: Great Britain

3. As to extent of powers exercised by the central or national government (unitary and federal)
o Unitary
 Control of national and local affairs is exercised by the central government.
 The national government, under this set-up, may delegate many duties to local units, but this authority
is delegated by an ordinary statute enacted by the national legislature and not by the Constitution.
 Example: Philippines
o Federal
 Powers of the government are divided into two sets of organs: national affair and local affairs, with
each organ being supreme within its own political sphere.
 It signifies division of governmental powers between the national government and constituent units.
  Example: USA
-

4. As to legitimacy
o De Jure
 Legal, legitimate government of a state and is recognized by other states.
 Example:Duterte administration; Biden administration
o De Facto
 a government that gets possession and control of, or usurps, by force , the rightful legal government
and maintains itself against the will of the people.
 Example: Military junta in Myanmar

5. Other forms
o Authoritarianism
 Authoritarian regimes are neither liberal nor democratic.
 The population lacks any effective and regular means of controlling its rulers.
 Elections may not take place at all, or the may be artificially restricted.
 In any event, the rulers exploit the advantages of office to prevent a level-playing field at elections.
 Communication between rulers and ruled is low in quality and quantity.
 Furthermore, the leaders of authoritarian regimes are prepared to falsify the election result if necessary.
 Rulers rely on the control of three key resources: the military, patronage , and the media.
 This term is used to cover all non-democratic rule.
o Totalitarianism
 In the broadest sense, totalitarianism is defined by a powerful central rule that strives to control and
govern all elements of individual life through coercion and repression. It is a form of government that
apparently allows no personal freedom and seeks to submit all aspects of individual life to state control.
 The term is frequently used to denote fascist and communist regimes.
 With a few exceptions such as North Korea, totalitarian government regimes are rarely observed today.
