PHILIPPINE POLITICS

AND GOVERNANCE
THE OVERVIEW
 WHAT IS POLITICS?
• from the Greek work Politika, which means, affair
of the city,
• is the study or practice of the distribution of power
and resources within a given community (this is
usually a hierarchically organized population) as
well as the interrelationship(s) between
communities.
 WHAT IS POLITICS
• It is also referred as the theory and practice of
how people influence others in making
decisions and carrying out projects or programs.
• Politics is the study of (who
gets what, when and
how) as Harold Laswell
states.
• Politics as defined by political science, refers to human
behavior with regard to matters related to government
activities such as formulation and execution of policies,
creation of laws, selection of government officials;
negotiation with foreign governments and other entities
or organization; protection of territorial boundaries;
preservation of cultural heritage and tradition; and
upholding the public interest and welfare.
• Political science is a social science which deals with
systems of governments, and the analysis of political
activities, political thoughts and political behaviour. It
deals extensively with the theory and practice of
politics which is commonly thought of as determining
of the distribution of power and resources.

POLITICAL SCIENCE
 KEY CONCEPTS IN POLITICAL
SCIENCE
• State - a state is any politically organized
community living under a single system of
government. States may or may not be sovereign.
It composed of the following elements:
population, territory, government, and
sovereignty.
 KEY CONCEPTS IN POLITICAL
SCIENCE
• Population refers to people that composed the
state, while territory refers to the place where the
people that composed the state are located, and it
includes the land, natural resources, and air
space within it.
 A government is the system by
which a state or community is
KEY controlled.
CONCEPTS IN
POLITICAL
SCIENCE Sovereignty refers to the ability
of the state to govern itself
without outside influence or
interference.
 Legitimacy is the right of the
government to exercise power
and authority.
KEY
CONCEPTS IN
POLITICAL
SCIENCE Governance refers to all
actions and activities related
to governing.
 KEY CONCEPTS IN POLITICAL
SCIENCE
• Ideology is a set of ideas and beliefs that
defines the views and actions of
individuals, groups, and intitutions.
 Different types and forms of
government have evolved
throughout history in various parts
GOVERNMENT of the world.
AND
GOVERNANCE Major types of government
according to classical arrangement
are monarchy, aristocracy, and
democracy.
 Monarchy refers to a government ruled a
single person. The sole ruler in a
monarchy is called a monarch but maybe
known by various term such as king,
GOVERNMENT sultan, and prince.
AND
GOVERNANCE
A monarch rules with the help of
bureaucracy composed of ministers, court
officials, and local governors
 GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNANCE

• Oligarchy or Aristocracy refers to the rule of small

group of people. During the medieval period, the
nobility established an aristocracy where only those
belonging to the political and social elite had the right to
govern.
 GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNANCE
• Direct democracy, based on the ancient Athenian
from of government, refers to the rule of the people,
who directly participate in all government activities.
• Representative or republican democracy were
introduced by the Roman, where citizens elect
representatives who will defend their interest in the
government.
 •Presidential system
recognizes the president as
DEMOCRATIC
GOVERNMENT the highest official and
head of the executive
branch.
 DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
• Parliamentary system is a system of democratic governance
of a state where the executive branch derives its democratic
legitimacy from its ability to command the confidence of the
legislative branch, typically a parliament, and is also held
accountable to that parliament. In a parliamentary system, the
head of state is usually a different person from the head of
government.
 DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
• Presidential system have legislature which are
organized based on a congressional system.
Legislature may either be unicameral or bicameral.
 DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
• Federal government is composed of individual states
with their own democratic government that come
together as a federation. There is a clear division of
power between the federal government and the
member states
 • The Executive
• The President is the head of the executive
branch, which makes laws official. The
President is elected by the entire country and
serves a six-year term. The President approves
THE BRANCHES and carries out laws passed by the legislative
OF THE branch. He appoints or removes cabinet
GOVERNMENT members and officials. He negotiates treaties,
and acts as head of state and commander in
chief of the armed forces.
• The executive branch also includes the Vice
President and other officials, such as members
of the cabinet.
 • Legislative Branch
• The legislative branch is made up of
the two houses of Congress—the
THE BRANCHES Senate and the House of
OF THE Representatives. The most
GOVERNMENT
important duty of the legislative
branch is to make laws. Laws are
written, discussed and voted on in
Congress.
 • Judicial Branch
• The judicial branch oversees the court
system of the Philippines. Through court
cases, the judicial branch explains the
THE BRANCHES meaning of the Constitution and laws
OF THE passed by Congress. The Supreme Court
GOVERNMENT is the head of the judicial branch. Unlike
a criminal court, the Supreme Court
rules whether something is
constitutional or unconstitutional—
whether or not it is permitted under the
Constitution.
The Supreme Court of the Philippines (Filipino:
Kataas-taasang Hukuman ng Pilipinas; colloquially
referred to by the Spanish: Corte Suprema), is the
highest court in the Philippines. It is presided over by
a Chief Justice and is composed of fifteen (15)
Justices, including the Chief Justice. Pursuant to the
Constitution, the Supreme Court has "administrative
supervision over all courts and the personnel
thereof".
 The Meaning of
Politics and
LESSON 1 How It Can Be
Studied
 LOOK AT THE
IMAGE. WHAT
CAN YOU SAY
ABOUT IT?
Politics is exciting because people have different viewpoints.
According to Heywood (2007), people may disagree about the
following concerns: How people should live? Who should get
what? How should power and other resources be distributed?
Should society be based on cooperation or conflict? He further
stressed that humans also disagree about how such matters should
be resolved, how should collective decisions be made, who
should have a say and how much influence should each person
have?
Defining politics and identifying its scope of study is not easy.
Although there is no agreed single meaning of politics, it is often
understood as a social activity. Heywood (2007)
 in broadest sense, politics is the activity through which people make, preserve and amend
the general rules under which they live. (Heywood 2007)

activity or process through which groups reach and enforce binding decisions. (Hague &
Harrop 2013)

DEFINING activity by which different interests are conciliated by giving them a share in power in
proportion to their importance to the welfare and the survival of the whole community.
POLITICS (Crick 2005)

set of activities that organizes individuals, systematically resolves disputes, and

maintains order in society through creation and enforcement of rules and government
policy. (Barrington et al. 2010)

activity through which human beings attempt to improve their lives and create the Good
Society. (Aristotle in Heywood 2007)
STUDYING
POLITICS - THE
DIFFERENT
VIEWS ABOUT
POLITICS
• Politics is viewed as an art or practical application of
knowledge for attaining a particular objective.
Considered as the classical definition of politics: the art
of government or exercise of control in society through
making and enforcement of collective or group
decisions.
 HERE ARE THE
A. Politics as the art ADDITIONAL FEATURES OF
of government THIS VIEW ABOUT
POLITICS:
• This view was developed in Ancient Greece.
Remember, the word politics is derived from the ancient
Greek word polis, meaning city-state. Politics can be
studied by referring it to the affairs or concerns of the
polis or its modern meaning what concerns the state.
• If you are studying politics, you are studying the
government. Two aspects are under this setting:
Government personnel or the people in government and
government machinery or the different government
departments, offices, or agencies.
• Politics happens in cabinet official meetings, legislative
chambers, and government departments.
• To study politics is to study the exercise of authority
defined as legitimate power. Legitimate means it is
acceptable for the people.
• Politics is engaged in by a limited and specific group,
notably politicians, civil servants and lobbyists.
 THIS SECOND VIEW LOOKS AT
POLITICS AS WHAT HAPPENS IN
THE PUBLIC SPHERE OF LIFE. IT
IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU
REMEMBER THE DISTINCTION
BETWEEN ‘THE POLITICAL’ AND
B. Politics as public ‘THE NON-POLITICAL’. IT
affairs COINCIDES WITH THE DIVISION
BETWEEN WHAT IS PUBLIC AND
WHAT IS PRIVATE. IF
IT HAPPENS IN THE PUBLIC
SPHERE, IT IS POLITICAL.
• To clarify, the distinction between public and private conforms to
the division between the state and civil society. The institutions of
the state (the government offices, departments and agencies) can be
regarded as ‘public’ because they are responsible for the collective
organization of community life. Moreover, they are funded at the
public’s expense through taxation. In contrast, civil society consists
of institutions such as private businesses, trade unions, clubs,
community groups and so on that are ‘private’ in the sense that
they are set up and funded by individual citizens to satisfy their
own interests, rather than those of the larger society.
C. POLITICS AS COMPROMISE AND
CONSENSUS
• The third view about politics focuses on the way how decisions are made.
Politics is seen as a particular means of resolving conflict: that is, by
compromise, conciliation and negotiation, rather than through the use of
force and naked power.
• Describing a solution to a problem as a ‘political’ solution implies
peaceful debate and arbitration, as opposed to what is often called a
‘military’ solution. This is anchored on the perspective that society is
characterized by consensus and not by irreconcilable conflict.
Disagreements that exist can be resolved without resort to intimidation and
violence. This view of politics has a positive character. Members of
society should be encouraged to respect politics as an activity, and they
should be prepared to engage in the political life of their own community.
 D. POLITICS AS POWER
• The fourth view sees politics as something that is present in all social
activities, at every level of social interaction; it can be found within our
families and amongst our small groups of friends just as much as
amongst nations and on the international or global stage.
• What makes a specific social activity or behavior political is the presence
of power. Politics under this view is in essence the power or ability to
achieve a desired end, through any way possible.
• Politics is viewed as a struggle over limited resources, and power can be
seen as the means through which this struggle is conducted. In politics,
power is usually thought of as a relationship: that is, as the ability to
influence the behavior of others. It is referred to in terms of having
‘power over’ people.
Politics may be defined as:
the art of government,
public affairs, compromise
and consensus, and power.
 ACTIVITY 1
COMPLETE THE CONCEPT MAP BELOW. WRITE DESCRIPTIONS OR
RELATED CONCEPTS AROUND THE MAIN CONCEPT POLITICS. WRITE
YOUR ANSWER ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER.

• Using the concept map that you accomplished, explain the meaning of politics. (7-10
Sentences)
 WHAT I HAVE LEARNED?
• Answer the following questions.
1. What are the similarities among the given definitions of
politics?
2. Why is it important to know the different meanings of
politics?
3. What is the importance of politics in our society? Explain
your answer.