Philippine Politics and Governance - 1
Philippine Politics and Governance - 1
Philippine Politics and Governance - 1
POLITICS AND
GOVERNANCE
WHAT IS POLITICS?
• Refers to the practice and theory of influencing other people, which oftentimes is directed
towards decision making or policy formulation but at times results in conflicts or conflict
ridden situations.
• Involves the making of a common decision for a group of people, that is a uniform decision
applying in the same way to all members of the group but not all the times agreeable to
everyone.
• Involves the use of power by one person to affect the behavior and manner of thinking of
other individual.
• Narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance– organized control
over a human community, particularly a state.
ETYMOLOGY
• Came from the Greek word “polis” which means city state, as it refers to the activities that
revolve within a city state.
• it was Latinized as “Polettiques”, thus it became “politics” in Middle English.The singular politic
first attested in English 1430 and comes from Middle French politique, in turn from Latin politicus,
which is the Latinization of the Greek politikos, meaning amongst the others “of, for, or relating to
citizens”, “civil”, “civic” belonging to the state.
OTHER
DEFINITIONS OF
POLITICS
CHANCELLOR OTTO
VON BISMARCK OF
GERMANY
• It gives rise to conflict essential for the mobilization of Citizen awareness, participation,
dynamism and empowerment.
• Politics allows greater involvement of the polity with the affairs and decisions that
concerns them.
• Politics serve as an “eye opener” for a more vibrant and involved citizenry.
• Politics also can serve as a way of letting truth come out and while it may be a
painstaking process, it serves to make the government responsive to the needs of the
people and the people to be more appreciative of the efforts of the government officials.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
A systematic and Academic View of Politics
WHAT IS POLITICAL SCIENCE?
• Political science is a social science which deals with systems of governance, and the
analysis of political activities, political thoughts, and political behavior. It deals extensively
with the theory and practice of politics which is commonly thought of as determining of
the distribution of power and resources.
• the systematic study of governance by the application of empirical and generally scientific
methods of analysis.
• it is above all the study of power: how it is created, exercised, justified, and challenged.
SUBFIELDS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
1. Comparative politics
2. International political economy
3. International relations
4. Political theory
5. Public administration
6. Public law
7. Political methodology
1. COMPARATIVE POLITICS
• a branch of political science concerned with relations between nations and primarily
with foreign policies.
• It studies relations among countries, the role of sovereign states, inter-governmental
organizations (IGOs), international non-governmental organizations (INs), non
governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs).
• An academic and a public policy field, and so can be positive and normative because it
analyzes and formulates the foreign policy of a given State.
4. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OR POLITICAL THEORY
• Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about the state, government,
politics, liberty, justice and the enforcement of a legal code by authority. It is an Ethics
applied to a group of people, and discusses how a society should be set up and how one
should act within a society.
• “political philosophy” often refers to a general view, or specific ethic, political belief of
attitude, about politics, synonymous to the term ”political ideology”.
5. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
• Part of law which governs relationships between individuals and the government, and
those relationships between individuals which are of direct concern to the society.
• It comprises constitutional law, administrative law, tax law and criminal law, as well as all
procedural law. In public law, mandatory law prevails. Law concerning relationships
between individuals belong to private law.
7. POLITICAL METHODOLOGY
• is a subfield of political science that studies the quantitative methods used to study
politics. It combines statistics, mathematics, and formal theory. Political methodology is
often used for positive research, in contrast to normative research. It is similar to
econometrics.
• it offers techniques for clarifying the theoretical meaning of concepts such as revolution
and for developing definitions of revolutions.
IMPORTANCE OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
• The importance of political science lies in the fact that all of us live within political systems and we
are affected by the changes in the global political economy. With the advent of globalization, there
has been a concomitant rise in the interest taken by the people of the world in understanding the
political systems of other countries. Hence, political scientists become valued and important as
they provide the lens through which we can understand the global political economy. There are
many universities that provide graduate and higher-level degrees in political science and in recent
years, because of the renewed interest in political science as a field of study, there are many takers
for these courses.
IMPORTANCE OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
• When you get into the political science you slowly learn about how political power
functions and how it is distributed. Furthermore, you learn how different governments
operate in their different political settings, how they interact with each other and how
rules are made, enforced and changed. All this is pretty important when you start
exploring the “what” and the “who” in politics, and of course of the “how” you slowly
begin to untangle the meaning and the formula of politics.
ACTIVITY NO. 1
A. Totalitarian Dictatorship
- A single leader seeks to control all
aspects of social and economic life.
• In this type, the monarch does not possess the real power
to govern. Serves mainly as ceremonial leaders of their
governments. The power to govern is normally vested in
the hands of the President or the Prime Minister.
Example: The Queen of England Elizabeth II
A GOVERNMENT OF THE “FEW”
2. Presidential Government/Republican
- a system of government in which the
President is constitutionally independent of
the legislature.
E. AS TO ITS LEGALITY OR CONSTITUTIONALITY
• De Jure Government
- One which has the general support of the people
and exists according to the constitutional or other
legal process.
- is the legal, legitimate government of a state and
is so recognized by other states.
DE FACTO GOVERNMENT
• - A government of fact.
• describe practices that exist in reality, even
if not officially recognized by law.
GOVERNANCE
• Refers to all processes of governing, whether undertaken by a
government, market or network, whether over a family tribe,
formal or informal organization or territory and whether
through laws, norms, power or language.
• Processes of interaction and decision-making among the actors
involved in a collective problem that lead to the creation,
reinforcement, or reproduction of social norms and
institutions.
EIGHT ELEMENTS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
• Rule of Law- supports the demand for equity and fairness and
means to be impartial, not corrupt and to protect the human
rights of all.
• Transparency- in government is an important precondition for
good governance, and those decisions taken and their
enforcement are done in a manner that enough information is
provided and that it is provided in easily understandable forms
and media.
• Equity and inclusiveness- A society’s well being depends on
ensuring that all men and women have opportunities to
improve or maintain their well-being. This requires all groups,
especially the most vulnerable, should have opportunities to
improve or maintain their standards of life.
• Effectivity and efficiency- good governance means processes
and institutions produce results that meet needs while making
the best use of resources. The concept of efficiency covers the
sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the
environment.
• Consensus Oriented- requires consultation to understand the
different interests of stakeholders in order to reach a broad
consensus of what is in the best interest of entire stakeholder
group, and how this can be achieved in a sustainable and
prudent manner.
• Accountability It is a key requirement of good governance. Both
public and private sector and civil society organizations must be
accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders.
An organization or an institution is accountable to those who
will be affected by its decisions or an institution is accountable
to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions.
Accountability can be enforced only with transparency and the
rule of law.
• Participation- good governance requires that civil society has
the opportunity to participate by both men and women during
the formulation of development strategies. This aspect of
governance is an essential element in securing commitment and
support for projects and enhancing the quality of their
implementation. Participation needs to be informed and
organized. This means freedom of association and expression
and an organized civil society should go hand in hand.
• Responsiveness- good governance requires the institutions to
serve all stakeholders in a given time-frame. There are several
actors and viewpoints and the different interests in society
needs mediation. The best interest of the community should be
analyzed and achieved which requires a broad and long-term
perspective on what is needed and how to achieve the goals of
sustainable development.