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The Concept of Political Science State Politics and Other
The Concept of Political Science State Politics and Other
1. Political theory
2. Public Law
3. Public Administration
Political Theory
It refers to the entire body of
doctrines relating to the origin,
form, behaviour, and purposes
of the state are dealt with the
study of political theory.
Public Law – the (a)
organization of governments, (b)
the limitations upon government
authority, (c) the powers and
duties of governmental offices
and officers, and (d) the
obligations of one state to
another are handled in the study
of public law.
Private Laws are the one which
govern the relations among
individuals, public law is so
specialized that separate courses
offered in each of its
subdivisions, namely: (a)
constitutional law, (b)
administrative law, and (c)
international Law.
Public Administration -
attention is focused upon
methods and techniques used
in the actual management of
the state affairs by executive,
legislative, and judicial
branches of government.
N.B, today, legislative bodies
have been forced to delegate
greater discretion to executive
officers responsible for the
conduct of government policies
and powers. Thus we find many
administrative agencies
exercising quasi-legislative and
quasi-judicial powers.
Interrelationship of Political
Science with other branches of
learning:
1. History
“History is past politics and
politics is present history.”
Political Scientist adopts a
“historical approach and
employs knowledge of the past
when he seeks to interpret
present and probable
developments in political
phenomena.
2. Economics
1. Terrestrial/land mass
2. Aerial
3. Fluvial
4. Maritime Domain
The smallest state is Vatican
State with an area of 0.43
square kilometres. It would fit
in Rizal Park in Manila. The
biggest state is Canada with
an area of 3,852,000 square
miles which covers a surface
nearly as large as Europe.
The Philippines has a total land
area of about 115,707 square
miles .
3. Government
It refers to the agency through
which the will of the state is
formulated, expressed and
carried out.
4. Sovereignty
It is the supreme power of the
state to command and enforce
obedience to its will from
people within its jurisdiction,
and to have freedom from
foreign control.
Two manifestations of Sovereignty:
1. Internal or the power of the state
to rule within its territory;
2. External or the freedom of the
state to carry out its activities without
subjection or control by other states.
External sovereignty is often referred
to as independence.
N.B these internal and external
aspects of sovereignty are not
absolutely true in practice
because of the development of
international relations and
consequently international law.
5. Recognition
1.Legal sovereignty is the possession of
unlimited power to make laws. It is the
authority by which law has the power to
issue commands.
1. Permanence;
2. Exclusivity;
3. Comprehensiveness;
4. Absoluteness;
5. Individuality;
6. Inalienability; and
7. Imprescritibility
Permanence means it exist in the same form
forever or for a very long time.
Forms of Government:
The principal forms are the
following:
1.As to number of persons
exercising sovereign powers;
2. As to extent of powers
exercised by the central or
national government;
3. As to relationship between the
executive and the legislative
branches of the government;
4. As to source of power or
authority:
1. As to number of persons
exercising sovereign powers:
A. Government by one
A1) Monarchy or one in which
the supreme and final 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.
Monarchies are further
classified into:
Monarchy, form of government
in which one person has the
hereditary right to rule as head
of state during his or her
lifetime; the term is also applied
to the state so governed.
Monarchs include such rulers as
kings and queens, emperors and
empresses, tsars, and kaisers.
It is a system of fundamental
laws or principles for the
government of nation, society,
corporation or other aggregation
of individuals and it may be
either written or unwritten.
It is a written enactment by the
direct action of the people by
which the fundamental powers of
the government are established,
defined and limited and by which
those powers are distributed
among several departments for
their safe and useful exercise for
teh benefit of the body politic.
BASIC PURPOSES OF
CONSTITUTION:
1. Prescribes the permanent
framework of the system of
government;
2. It assigns to the different
departments their respective
powers and duties; &
3. It establishes basic principles
on which the government is
founded.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF
CONSTITUTION:
1. As to form:
a. Written – one which has
been reduced in writing at a
particular time fashioned out
usually by a constitutional
convention; &
b. Unwritten – one that is the
product of political evolution,
both in form and in substance,
not inaugurated at any specific
time and changing by accretion
rather than by systematic
method.
2. As to origin
a. Cumulative or evolved – one
where it has its origin mainly on
customs, common law principles,
and decisions of courts. It is the
product of historical evolution and
growth rather than of deliberate
and formal enactment.
b. Convention or enactment –
one that is the product of
deliberate assembly and
consciously adopted formally.
3. As to modality of amendment
a. Rigid – one that cannot be
amended except by the very
procedure spelled out in that
Charter itself which is rigid.
b. Flexible – one which
possesses no higher legal
authority than ordinary laws
which can be amended easily.
ADVANTAGES OF WRITTEN
CONSTITUTION:
1. It is frequently the only possible
starting point for the foundation and
growth of civil institutions and often
forms the first available means to give
civil dignity and political consciousness
to the people, as well as the beginning
of a distinct delineation of power.
2. In times of political apathy, it
forms the bridge to pass over
to better times.
3. It gives a strong feeling of right
and a powerful impetus to
action to have the written law
clearly on one’s side.
4. It serves as a beacon to apprise
the people when their rights and
liberties are invaded and
endangered.
5. It furnishes a text to which those
who are watchful may again rally
and recall the people in moments
of passion and delusion.
6. It protects the people from
frequent and violent fluctuations
of public opinion.
DISADVANTAGES OF WRITTEN
CONSTITUTION:
1. It must be broad
It must outline an
organization of the government
for the whole State.
2. It must be brief
It is a document that should
not be too detailed in form.
3. It must be definite
Clarity and definiteness are
indispensable ingredients of a
Constitution.
CONSTITUTION OF THE
REPUBLIC OF THE
PHILIPPINES
Congress is required to
provide by law for the
implementation of the exercise
of this right.
Once the required number of
voters’ signature is complied with,
Congress is bound to submit the
proposed amendments to the
people in a plebiscite.
The above requirements are
designed to ensure that a sizeable
portion of the population really
desire to propose the amendment
and at the same time avoid
frequent changes in the
fundamental law which are not
conducive to political stability.
Sec. 3, Art. XVII
The Congress may, by a vote
of two-thirds of all its Members,
call a constitutional convention,
or by a majority vote of all its
members, submit to the
electorate the question of calling
such a convention.
Method by which constitutional
convention may be called.
1. Congress by two-thirds vote of
all its members may call a
constitutional convention; or
2. Congress by a majority vote of
all its members (in case neither
the ¾ nor 2/3 vote can be
mustered) may toss the
question to call a constitutional
Convention to the electorate in
an election.
Constitutional Convention is a
body assembled for the
expressed purpose of framing
the constitution, or revising the
existing Constitution, or
formulating amendments to it for
the approval of the electorate.
Sec. 4, Art. XVII
Any amendment to, or revision
of, this Constitution under Section 1
hereof shall be valid when ratified
by a majority of the votes cast in a
plebiscite which shall be held not
earlier than sixty days nor later
than ninety days after approval of
such amendment.
Any amendment under Sec. 2
hereof shall be valid when ratified
by a majority of the votes cast in a
plebiscite which shall be held not
later than sixty days nor later than
ninety days after certification by
the Commission on Elections of
the sufficiency of the petition.
Ratification means the direct
approval by the people of the
amendment to, or revision of
the constitution. It is the final
act to make any change in the
constitution valid as part
thereof.
1987 CONSTITUTION
Preamble
Answer:
The Preamble cannot be
considered as a source of substantive
power unless apart from the
Preamble, it is to be found in express
form in the distribution of powers.
Difference between 1935 & 1987 Constitution
esp. In Preamble
Answer:
The conventional modes of
acquiring territory are: