Politics and Governance Authority

-power based on different types of authority (basis in the exercise of power).

with Philippine Constitution Charismatic Authority is based on the personal qualities of the
individual who wields power, based on the person’s traits as
perceived by the other people in society.
What is Political Science? Traditional Authority is rooted in traditional values and existing
social ties and institutions.
Political Science – etymological definition, the word “political” is derived Legal-rational Authority is based on a system of laws and regulations,
from the Greek word ‘polis,’ meaning a ‘city’ or would be equivalent of and an established bureaucracy. A person can exercise
a sovereign state. The word “science” comes from the Latin word power because he or he has been empowered by law.
‘scire,’ means ‘to know.’
-simply defined as “the systematic study of the state and government” Government
-means the science of politics, as its formal object is to have a basic - The term generally used to describe the formal institutions through which a
knowledge and understanding of the state and of the principles and group of people is ruled or governed. The term extends to include the persons
ideals which underlie its organization and activities. and organizations that make, enforce, and apply political decisions for a
society (Mendoza, 1999a).
Importance of studying Political Science - Ask what and who exercise political power
1. Education of citizenship.
2. Essential parts of liberal education. Intelligent, responsible Governance
citizenship can save democracy; ignorance and negligence - The general patterns and interlocking systems of governing across both
can lose it. public and private spheres by which the overall social, economic, and political
3. Knowledge and understanding of government. Seek to gather and life of a society is organized and managed, whether democratically or not,
impart knowledge and understanding to produce good and whether there are formal institutions or not, and whether done by national,
well-behaved citizenry. international, or transnational agencies and institutions
- ask how and what process

Power
-is generally defined as the ability of a person to carry out his or his will. In Administration
politics, power refers to the ability to exercise control or impose restrictions -the management of public affairs or the government.
over individuals, as well as compel other people to do certain tasks. Power is -this holds the power through which the process or activity of running an
closely tied to the concept of authority, which is the right to exercise power organization (or political offices) has been carried out.
in society. -the group of individuals who are charged of creating and enforcing rules and
Power also plays an important role in leadership. Leaders exercise various regulation, or leadership position who complete important tasks.
power in order to guide people in an organization and lead them in the
conduct of various tasks.
What is a State, its Concept and Elements? What are Elements of State?
The modern state has four (4) essential elements. Accordingly to the
State definition of state, they are: people, territory, government, and sovereignty.
-a state is a community of persons more or less numerous,
permanently occupying a definite territory, having a 1. People
government of their own to which the great body of -refers to the inhabitants living within the state. Sometimes, the term
inhabitants render obedience, and enjoying sovereignty or ‘population’ is used to mean the same.
freedom from external control. -there is no requirement as to number of people that should compose a state.
-The Philippines is a state, as well as Republic of South Korea, China, The Vatican has the smallest population of 801 estimated citizens.
Canada, among others. The Republic of China is the largest state in point of population
-State, oftentimes, is used to mean “country” or “nation.” placed at more than 1.4 billion, while Philippines has estimated
population of 106 million.
-according to UN recent data (July 2017), the five least populous states are
State distinguished from nation Vatican City, Tokelau, Niue, Falkland Island and Santa Helena; while
-State is the term equivalent to a ‘nation.’ Although state and nation, are the most populous states are China, India, USA, Indonesia and Brazil.
often used synonymously and interchangeably, these two terms are
not totally the same, distinctly;
(a) A state is a political concept, while nation is an ethnic 2. Territory
concept. A nation is a group of people bound together by - this includes not only a fixed portion of land over which the jurisdiction of the
certain common characteristics such as origin, language, state extends (territorial domain), but also the rivers and lakes
customs and traditions. therein, a certain area of sea which abuts upon its coasts (fluvial and
(b) A state is not subject to external control (like the independent maritime domain) and the air space above the land and the waters
state of the Philippines), while a nation may or may not be (aerial domain). Article I of the 1987 Constitution defines what
independent of external control (like Hong Kong and national territory of the Philippines is thereof.
Taiwan). -the smallest state in terms of territory is Vatican, with an area of only 0.44
(c) A single state may consist of one or more nations or people or square kilometre, located just outside the western boundary of Rome,
conversely, a single nation may be made up of several states. Italy. While Russia is the largest state in point of territory with total
United States of America is a single state and a melting pot land area of about 17,098,246 square kilometres. The Philippines has
of several nationalities. Arab nation is divided politically into a total land area of about 299,955 square kilometres.
sovereign states, among them are: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, - accordingly, the five smallest state in terms of territory are Vatican, Monaco,
Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and others. The Philippines is a state Nauru, Tuvalu and San Marino; while the largest states by territory
composed of one nation. are Russia, Canada, China, USA and Brazil.
3. Government ii. as to extent of powers exercised by the central or national government:
-it refers to the agency through which the will of the state is formulated, (a) Unitary government or one in which the control of national and local
expressed and carried out. affairs is exercised by the central or national government.
-sometimes, it refers to the person or aggregate of those people in which e.g. Colombia, South Korea, France and Philippines
hands are placed for the time being the function of political control. (b) Federal government or one in which the powers of the government
are divided between two sets of organs, one fir national affairs
Forms of Government and the other fir local affairs, each organ being supreme within
i. as to number of persons exercising sovereign powers: its own sphere.
A. Monarchy or one in which the supreme and final authority is in the e.g. USA, Iraq, Malaysia and Australia
hands of a single person, usually king or queen, sultanate, or
emperor. iii. as to relationship between the executive and the legislative branches of the
(a) absolute monarchy or one in which the ruler rules by divine right; government:
e.g. Brunei Darussalam, Oman and Vatican City (a) Parliamentary government or one in which the state confers upon
(b) limited monarchy or one in which the ruler rules in accordance the legislature the power to terminate the tenure of the office of
with a constitution; the real executive. Technically, the executive and legislative
e.g. United Kingdom, Cambodia and Japan branches are combined or exercised by the same body.
(c) mixed or one in which the monarch is either absolute or e.g. Canada, Switzerland, Spain and Germany
constitutional. (b) Presidential government or one in which the state makes the
e.g. Bahrain, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. executive constitutionally independent of the legislature as
regards to his tenure and to a large extent as regards to his
B. Aristocracy or one in which political powers is exercised by few policies and acts.
privileged class which is known as an aristocrats or oligarchs. e.g. Mexico, Venezuela, Kenya and Philippines
e.g. Denmark, England and Spain

C. Democracy or one in which political power is exercised by a majority

of the people. Democratic governments are further classified into: 4. Sovereignty
-defined as the supreme power of the state to command and enforce
(a) direct or pure democracy or one in which the will of the state is obedience to its will from people within its jurisdiction and to
formulated or expressed directly and immediately through the have freedom from foreign control. It has two manifestations:
people in mass meeting or primary assembly. (a) internal or power of the state to rule within its
(b) indirect, representative , or republican democracy or one which territory
the will of the state is formulated and expressed through the (b) external or the freedom of the state to carry out
agency of a relatively small and select body of persons chosen its activities without subjection to or control by
by the people to act as their representatives. the other state. External sovereignty is often
e.g. USA, Australia, India, and Philippines referred to as independence.
Theories of Origin of State - After establishing the state by subjugating the other people in
that place the chief used his authority in maintaining the law and
1. Divine Right Theory order and defending the state from aggression from outside.
- The exponents of this theory believe that the state did not come Thus force was responsible not only for the origin of the state but
into being by an effort of man. It is created by God or a Divine also for development of the state also.
Being.
- It also believes that the King (or the Leader) derives his authority 4. Social Contract Theory
from God and for all his action e is responsible to God alone. The - The most famous theory with regard to the origin of the state is
King is a representative of God and he is above the law and no the social contract theory. The theory goes to tell that the state
subject has the right to question his action authority or his action. came into existence out of a deliberate and voluntary contract
Thus the King is both political and religious entity. between the people and the sovereign at some point of time.
- According to this theory, there were two divisions in human
2. Patriarchal or Paternalistic Theory history- one period is prior to the establishment of the state
- The city is a conglomeration of several families which developed called the “state of nature” and the other period is one
into the control and authority of the eldest male member of the subsequent to the foundation of the state called “civil society”.
family. The state of nature was bereft of society, government and
- The patriarchal family was the most ancient organized social political authority. There was no law to regulate the relations of
institution in the primitive society. the people in the state of nature. Which was exchanged with civil
- The head or father of the patriarchal family wielded great power society to lead a regulated life under a political authority.
and influence upon the other members of the family. - The crux of the social contract theory is that men create
- Through the process of marriage the families began to expand government for the purpose of securing their pre-existing natural
and they gave birth to generation which stands for a household. rights that the government is created to protect these rights.
Several gens made one clan. A group of clan constitute a tribe. A
confederation of tribes formed one commonwealth which is
called the state.

3. Necessity or Force Theory

- The exponents of this theory hold the wars and aggression by
some powerful tribe were the principal factors in the creation of
the state.
- The necessity to advance into war brought the expansion of the
mighty or more forceful which prevailed over the right in the
primitive society and less strong people. The strongest person in Prepared by: Renely P. Gozon
a tribe is, therefore, made the chief or the leader of that tribe.