PPGC 211

Philippine Politics, Governance, and Citizenship

Week 1 Lecture
 An Introduction:
To Concepts of Politics, State, Governance, and Citizenship
 Nature and Definition of Politics
• Politics: comes from the Greek word “polis”, meaning city-state.
• Modern Definition: “What concerns the state.”
• Politics can be defined as the study of the state, its aims and purposes the
institutions by which those are going to be realized, its relations with its
individual members and with other states.
 Nature and Definition of Politics
• Politics is defined in such different ways: as the exercise of power,
exercise of authority, the making of collective decisions, the allocation of
scarce resources, the practice of deception and manipulation, and so on.
(Heywood, 1997)
• Politics is the way in which we understand and order our social affairs,
and acquire greater control over the situation. - B. Pomton and P. Gill
 Harrold Laswell
• Political Scientist Harold Lasswell, (1936) author of a major study of the
distributive consequences of political activity
• In his 1936 book, the political scientist Harold Lasswell said that “politics
is who gets what, when, and how.”
• BOOK: Politics – Who Gets What, When, and How.
 Harold Laswell
• According to Harold Lasswell, Politics is concerned with determination, by official governmental
decision making and action, of:

 Who in political society receives what benefits, rewards, and advantages and how much of them they receive,
 When they receive the benefits, rewards, and advantages, and
 What are the methods by which they receive them.

• Conversely, politics is also concerned with determining, by governmental decision making and
action,:

 who in society is denied what benefits, rewards, and advantages,

 when and how long they are denied them, and
 the methods by which they are subjected to such deprivations.
 Political Science
• The study of politics.
• Political Science is a classical discipline that deals with the study of
political phenomena.
• Political Science deals with the systematic study of political structures,
political processes and political behavior.
• Political Science focuses on the theory and practice of government and
politics at the local, state, national, and international levels.
 How Politics is Studied?
• Giovanni Sartori has pointed out, “approaches and research methods are
largely decided by the kind of evidence which is available for the units,
and the kind of problems with which one deals.”
• Approach: a particular orientation or POV in looking at and interpreting
the world of politics.
• An approach seeks to provide a framework for analysis, explanation and
prediction.
 Approaches
• As to the criterion of time dimension:

1. Traditional Approaches: philosophical, historical, and legal-institutional

modes of analysis
• Tends to emphasize the usefulness of analyzing governmental institutions
2. Modern or Behavioral Approaches: value-free, empirical, and behavioral
modes of inquiry
• Tends to assert the importance of research into the intricacies of the behavior of individual
political actors
 Approaches
• As to the criterion of time dimension:

3. Postbehavioralism: is an approach that emphasizes that (a) political

science research should be meaningful, that is, that it should address
urgent political problems, (b) that science and values are inextricably
connected; and (c) that political science should not seek to model
itself on the strict application of scientific methods used in the natural
sciences
 Key Points to Remember
1. Traditionalism, behavioralism, and postbehavioralism are broad categories, and within
each category one finds a variety of political scientists who are not necessarily in
agreement on all matters relating to the study of politics.
2. The emergence of a new approach did not necessarily completely or entirely
displace an older one; for example, while traditionalism was challenged by
behavioralism in the 1950s and 1960s, a number of political scientists continued to
hold to traditionalism.
3. Two of the three research approaches have tended to define themselves in opposition
to their predecessors and, in so doing, have helped shape the manner in which those
prior approaches have been remembered.
 Comparisons
Traditional Approaches
• Dates back to Ancient Greece
• Concerned with what “should”, “ought”, or
“must” be brought about, rather than what “is”
• This involves the analytical study of ideas and
doctrines that have been central to political
thought.
• Literary analysis on what major thinkers said
Behavioral Approaches
• Dominant approach in 1950’s to 1960’s
• “Scientific tradition”
• Objective and quantifiable data against
which hypotheses could be be tested
• David Easton: “politics could adopt the
methodology of the natural sciences”
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
TRADITIONAL APPROACHES:
1. Traditional approaches are largely normative and stresses on the values
of politics
2. Emphasis is on the study of different political structures and institution
3. Traditional approaches made very little attempt to relate theory and
research
4. These approaches believe that since facts and values are closely
interlinked, studies in political Science can never be scientific.
FORMS OF TRADITIONAL APPROACH
PHIL
1. Philosophical- This approach 2. Historical- As the name
firmly believes that values of this approach is related
cannot be separated from the
to history, it emphasizes
study of politics and political
system. Therefore, its main on the study of history of
concern is to judge what is every political reality to
good or bad in any political analyze any situation.
society.
FORMS OF TRADITIONAL APPROACH
PHIL
3. Institutional- This 4. Legal- This approach is
approach is concerned with concerned with the legal
the study of formal process, legal bodies or
structures and institutions institutions, justice and
like legislature, executive,
independence of
judiciary, political parties,
etc.
judiciary.
 BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
(BEHAVIORALISM)
• The behavioral approach to political science mainly emphasizes
on scientific, objective and value free study of political
phenomenon.
• This approach stresses upon the use of empirical as well as
scientific methods of study political behavior.
• This approach shifts its emphasis from the study of the state and
government to the day-today problems, activities and behavior of
individuals and groups.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
BEHAVIORALISM:
1. Regularities - believes 2. Verification -
that there are certain emphasizes testing and
uniformities in political
behavior which can be
verifying everything.
expressed in According to the
generalizations or theories behaviorists, what
in order to explain and cannot be verified is
predict political not scientific.
phenomena.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
BEHAVIORALISM:
3. Techniques - put 4. Quantification -
emphasis on the use of After collecting data,
those research tools and the researcher should
methods which generate
measure and quantify
valid, reliable and
comparative data. those data.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
BEHAVIORALISM:
5. Values - believe 6. Systematization -
that to do research in Political
Science must be
objective research, systematic. Theory
one has to be and research should
value free. go together.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
BEHAVIORALISM:
7. Pure Science - 8. Integration - Political
believes that the Science should not be
study of Political separated from various
Science should be other social sciences
like history, sociology
verified by evidence.
and economics, etc.
 Class Discussion
• Why is it important to study politics?
Governance
Definition and Characteristics
 Class Discussion:
• Is it enough that the government is “functioning”, or should we
demand more?
 GOVERNANCE
• The World Bank defines governance as “the manner in which
power is exercised in the management of a country's economic
and social resources for development”... “Governance has been
defined as “the rules of the political system to solve conflicts
between actors and adopt decision (legality).”
 Definition
• Governance is commonly defined as the exercise of power or authority
by political leaders for the well-being of their country’s citizens or
subjects.
• It is the complex process whereby some sectors of the society wield
power, and enact and promulgate public policies which directly affect
human and institutional interactions, and economic and social
development.
 Etymology of Governance
• The word “governance” came from the Latin verb
“gubernare,” or more originally from the Greek word
“kubernaein,” which means “to steer.”

• Basing on its etymology, governance refers to the manner of

steering or governing, or of directing and controlling, a group
of people or a state.
Eight Indicators Of Good Governance
 1. Participation
• Good governance essentially requires participation of different sectors of
the society. Participation means active involvement of all affected and
interested parties in the decision-making process.
• It requires an enabling environment wherein pertinent information is
effectively disseminated and people could respond in an unconstrained
and truthful manner. It also means gender equality, recognizing the vital
roles of both men and women in decision-making.
 2. Rule of Law
• Rule of law demands that the people and the civil society render habitual
obedience to the law. It also demands that the government acts within the
limits of the powers and functions prescribed by the law.
• Democracy is essentially the rule of law. It is through the law that people
express their will and exercise their sovereignty. Thus, good democratic
governance is fundamentally adherence to the rule of law.
 3. Effectiveness and Efficiency
• Effectiveness (meeting the needs) and efficiency (proper utilization of
resources) must necessarily go together to ensure the best possible results
for the community.
• When valuable resources are utilized, without wasting or underutilizing
any of them, means that there is efficient governance.
 4. Transparency
• Transparency means that people are open to information regarding
decision-making process and the implementation of the same.
• In legal terms, it means that information on matters of public concern is
made available to the citizens or those who will be directly affected.
• When there is transparency, people are placed in a better position to know
and protect their rights as well as denounce corrupt or fraudulent practices
in the public sector and in the private sector.
 5. Responsiveness
• Responsiveness means that institutions and processes serve all
stakeholders in a timely and appropriate manner.
• In other words, the interests of all citizens must be well protected in a
prompt and appropriate manner so that each of them can appreciate and
take part in the process of governance.
 6. Equity and Inclusiveness
• Equity and inclusiveness means that all the members of the society,
especially the most vulnerable ones or the grassroots level, must be taken
into consideration in policy-making.
• Social equity refers to a kind of justice that gives more opportunity to the
less fortunate members of the society. It is based on the principle that
those who have less in life should have more in law.
 7. Consensus-Oriented
• Governance is consensus-oriented when decisions are made after taking
into consideration the different viewpoints of the actors of the society.
• Fundamentally, democratic governance is based on the partnership of the
actors of the society in providing public services.
 8. Accountability
• Accountability means answerability or responsibility for one’s action. It
is based on the principle that every person or group is responsible for their
actions most especially when their acts affect public interest.
• Political accountability refers to the accountability of public officials to
the people they represent.