CHAPTER 1: POLITICS

1. POLITICS AS THE ART OF GOVERNMENT

- Otto Von Bismarck Politics is not a science but an art exercise of
control within the society through the making and enforcement of
collective decision.
- Politics- Polis means city-state.
- Considered to be from a more traditional perspective as it focuses more on
the state specifically how governments perform in being able to address
the need of people in the society.
2. POLITICS AS PUBLIC AFFAIRS
- What is the public life or public affairs.
- The aggregate interests of individuals, groups, and or organization
that is either public or private.
- Distinction of what separates the public from the private life.
3. POLITICS AS COMPROMISE AND CONSENSUS
- Politics is seen as means of resolving conflict
- By compromise, conciliation and negotiation rather than through
force and naked power.
POWER AS INTRUMENTALITY OF POLITICS
According to Grigsby, power stems from the old latin word POTERE ability to
affect something else.
TYPES OF POWER
1. Force is power involving physical means
2. Persuasion is nonphysical power in which the agent over whom power is
exercised.
3. Manipulation is nonphysical power in which the agent using power
conceals the use of power.
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF POLITICS
1. THE PHYSICAL TRADITION origins of political analysis date back to
Ancient Greece usually referred to as political philosophy.
- This involved a preoccupation with essentially ethical, prescriptive,
or normative questions, reflecting a concern with what should,
ought or must.
2. THE EMPIRICAL TRADITION It can be seen in Aristotles attempt to
classify constitutions.
- The empirical approach to political analysis is characterized by the
attempt to offer a dispassionate and impartial account of political
reality.
- The approach is descriptive, in that it seeks to analyze and explain.
3. BEHAVIOURALISM - belief that social theories should be constructed
only on the basis of observable behavior, providing quantifiable data
for research.

4. RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY it draws heavily on the example of

economic theory in building up models based on procedural rules,
usually about the rationally self-interested behavior of the individuals
involved.
5. NEW INSTITUTIONALISM Political institutions are no longer equated
with political organizations; they are thought of not as things but
assets of rules which guide or constrain the behavior of individual
actors.
CHAPTER 2 : STATE, GOVERNMENT & GOVERNANCE
John Halls composite definition of state include (3) elements:
1. State is a set of institutions - most important which means
violence and coercion.
2. Society these institutions are at the center of geographically
bounded territory.
3. The state monopolizes rule making within its territory /
Sovereignty of state.
Max Weber German Sociologist, philosopher and political economist, provided his
own concept of state. In his work Politics as a Vocation; -the state is any
human community that has a monopoly of legitimate us of physical force within
a given territory.
Migdals Work Strong societies and weak states capabilities of the state
to achieve the kinds of changes in the society that their leaders have sought
through state planning, policies and actions.
Garners 4 elements of the state
1. PEOPLE this refers to the inhabitants living within the state.
2. TERRITORY it includes not only fixes portion of land over which the
jurisdiction of the sate extends (territorial domain), but also the rivers
and lakes therein a certain area of the sea which abuts upon its coasts
and the air space above the land and waters.
3. GOVERNMENT- refers to the agency through which the will of the
state is formulated, expressed and carried out.
4. Sovereignty- supreme power of the state to command and enforce
obedience to its will from the people within its jurisdiction and to have
freedom from foreign control.
a. Internal power of state to rule within its territory
b. External freedom of state to carry put its activities without
subjection to or control by other states
THEORIES OF THE ORIGIN OF THE STATE
According to Carneiro, there are several theories in the origin of the
state
1. VOLUNTARISTIC THEORY certain peoples voluntarily gave up
their individual sovereignties and united with other community to

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.
8.

form a larger political unit deserving to be called a state. An

example of this type is the social contract by rousseau.
AUTOMATIC THEORY - invention of agriculture automatically
brought into being a surplus of food, enabling some individuals to
divorce themselves from food production and to become potters,
weavers, smiths, masons.
HYDRAULIC HYPOTHESIS conceptualized by Karl Wittfogel, in
certain arid and semi arid areas of the world, where the village
farmers had to struggle to support themselves, they set aside
individual autonomies and merge the villages into single large
political unit capable of carrying out irrigation.
COERCIVE THEORY force and not self interest is the mechanism
by which political evolution has led. Heraclitus once said War is the
father of all things.
ENVIRONMENTAL CIRCUMSCRIPTION Factors common to areas
of the world in which states arose indigenously. Areas of
circumscribed agricultural land. Each of them is set off by
mountains,seas, or deserts.
POLITICAL EVOLUTION the expansion of successful states
brought within their borders conquered peoples and territory which
had to be administered.
RESOURCE CONCENTRATION resources are concentrated in a
particular area thats results to circumscription.
SOCIAL CIRCUMSCRIPTION the interaction and relationships
between and among individuals and groups.

NATION
-

The term state is often being mistaken to nation, the former is considered
to be a legal and or political while the latter is a cultural one.
NATION is based in an old Latin word NATUS ( birth )

GOVERNMENT
-

A system or organization for exercising authority over a body of people.

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
1. MONARCHY Single member of the state / Considered to be the oldest
forms of government
a. ABSOLUTE MONARCHY the ruler leads through a divine right which he
exercises absolute powers by performing functions of all branches of
government such as executive, legislative, and judiciary
b. CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHYthe ruler leads based on the
constitution and comes from a non-political head of the state.
2. ARISTOCRACY the power of making law is at the hands of several
educated members or class.
3. DEMOCRACY the power is vested to the people as they are given the
right to choose the ruler.
4. PRESIDENTIAL
5. UNITARY
6. FEDERAL

7. PARLIAMENTARY
8. CIVILIAN
9. MILITARY
10.
DICTATORIAL
11.
REVOLUTIONARY
12.
REPUBLICAN

GOVERNANCE
-

Effectiveness
Ability to meet demands of society.
Exercise of political, economic, and administrative authority to manage a
nations affairs.

4 COMPONENTS OF GOVERNMENT
1. PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT manage financial and personnel
resources effectively through appropriate budgeting, accounting,
and reporting.
2. ACCOUNTABILITY public officials are held responsible for their
actions
3. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT set of rules
known in advance.
4. INFORMATION AND TRANSPARENCY
CHAPTER 3: POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEMS
Administrative structures embody thedelegation of administrative authority
from the federal/ central govt. to the the state/local govt.
Unitary System is the efficient organization of power.
2 RELATIONAL PATTERNS UNDER UNITARY STRUCTURE
1. NATIONAL- LOCAL
2. INTERLOCAL
-

FEDERAL SYSTEM
Opposite of Unitary System
voluntary self-rule and shared rule
Latin word FOEDUS ( covenant ) state of binding partnership among
equal parties.

6 RELATIONAL PATTERNS
1.
2.
3.
4.

Federal- state- local

Federal local
Federal state
Interstate

5. State- local
6. Interlocal

CHAPTER 4 : THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

Constitution - that body of rules and maxims in accordance with which
the powers of sovereignty are habitually exercise
-

To prescribe the permanent framework of a system

To assign to the several departments their respective powers and
duties
To established certain first fixed principles on which government is
founded.

PURPOSE OF CONSTITUTION
To define the organization of the government
To determine the distribution of governmental powers
Establish certain fixed principles governing the operation of the
government
To define rights of individual citizens
To hold the state together

A constitution - Legislation direct from people / Statute legislation

from the peoples representative
Constitution - usually states general principles / Statute - must
provide the details of a subject of which it treats.
Constitution intended to meet not only existing but also future
conditions / Statute intended to meet present conditions.
FOUR CLASSIFICATION OF CONSTITUTION
ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF GOVERNMENT FOR WHICH THEY
PROVIDE
a)
b)
c)
d)

Democratic
Aristocratic
Oligarchic
Autocratic

ACCORDING TO FORM

a) Written consists of a single document regarded as the

fundamental law of land.
It contains basic principles upon which government is established
and organized, defines and limits the powers and functions of the
government.
Duly ratified by the people is a concrete expression of the social
compact theory, because it is sacred covenant between those on
power and the people
b) Unwritten not embodied in a single written instrument

An evolved constitution which undergoes growth and development

in the customs and traditions of the people and reinforced by
written laws, rules and principles.
It serves as a system of constitutional restraints on government, and
a bulwark of individual liberties and freedoms.

ACCORDING TO THE DIFFICULTY OF THE AMENDING PROCESS

a) Flexible
b) Rigid
ACCORDING TO THEIR ORIGIN
a) Cumulative
b) Conventional
MODE OF ACQUIRING AND LOSING TERRITORY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Discovery and occupation

Conquest and subjugation
Cession a. Voluntary b. involuntary
Prescription
Accretion a. Acts of nature b. Acts of man

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD WRITTEN CONSTITUTION

1. It must be broad or comprehensive
2. It must be brief or concise
3. It must be clear and definite
CONTENTS OF A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION
1.
2.
3.
4.

Preamble
Division and Distribution of the powers and functions of government
Bill of rights
Amendatory Process