Lesson 1

PHILIPPINE
POLITICS AND
GOVERNANCE
The Concepts of Politics

and Governance
Specifically, you are expected to:
1. Define politics and governance and

understand the rules of the game.
2.Develop critical thinking and in

interpreting Politics and Governance.
3.Recognize the value and evaluate the

importance of politics in their everyday
dealings.
What I Know
Before we start with our lesson, let us check your prior knowledge
about the Basic Concepts of Politics and Governance.
Write five words or phrase on the box that comes into your mind
whenever you hear the words politics and governance. Write your
answer in your Activity Notebook.
1.
2.
3.
Politics
4.
5.
1.
2.
3.
Political Science
4.
5.
The Concepts of Politics
and Governance
In every aspect of man’s life, there is always a conflict and
disagreement. They disagree about the distribution of
powers and resources as well as how to resolve such
disagreement. Question such as “Why is there war?” What
are the necessary and sufficient conditions of poverty? How
do we account for intolerance? How do we avoid ecological
catastrophes? Broad agreement that it is advantageous to
avoid devastating wars, enhance prosperity, protects human
right and guard against environmental disasters. This is
where politics comes in.
What’s In
Test your stock knowledge by identifying the
statement if it is true or false. Write T if the
statement is true and F if false and
underline the word or phrase that makes the
statements false. Write your answer in your
Notebook.
1. Political Science has closely related to
history. __________
2. Household management is associated to
political science. _________
3. Prominent to this social group is family
in which each of us belong._______
4. Humanity is the tandem of political science to
establish political structure and leadership. ________
5. Political science is a study of power and government
systems._________
6. Power is not a central concept in political
science.________
7. The study of politics involves a complex process of
qualitative and quantitative
interpretation based in available data. ____________
8. Aristotle defined political science as the study of
people.________
9. Good governance must have a characteristics of Rule of
the Law.___________
10. Only government officials have the right to study
politics.__________
What’s New
Political System of the Tbolis
Since the founding of the municipality of Lake Sebu,
majority of the local officials have been Tboli. Thus, the transfer
of power and authority from the traditional Datu to the elected
officials of the government units was not a problem.
The traditional power and authority of the Datu decreased,
but the local government units (LGU) have continued
recognizing the wisdom of indigenous leadership that they call
Council of Elders.
Generally, the Tboli are fearful of breaking ancestral laws on
respect for elders. Despite the incorporation of the Tboli into the
mainstream of the local government system, the leadership of
the Datu is still strongly upheld.
Thus, the local government officials coordinate with
their Datu on matters affecting directly the welfare of the
constituents of their municipality. The Council of Elders
is also consulted by the local government officials.
Recommendations particularly in drafting their local
government are sought for from the council.
Answer the following questions:

What is the political system of Tboli?
Are this system is still practice in the present
time?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
the political system?
The Meaning of Politics
Politics is the study of “who gets what, when and how” as

Harold Laswell states. Who gets power, authority, and
leadership? When they are able to get such and how they able
to get it? This is liken to the idea that politics is” the master
science” as called by Aristotle (Roskin, et.al., 2012). He
further elaborated that politics is present in all or dealings in
the Polis (the Greek city-state). This leads to the concept that
Politics indeed could also be viewed as social activity- there is
always an interaction between and among the members of the
society to resolve disagreement and conflicts to attain
common solutions
Politics is the exercise of power, the science of
government, the making of collective decisions,
the allocations of scare resources and the
practice of deception and manipulation.
Moreover, Politics is consists of people acting
politically, by organizing political interests
groups ad trying to induce governments to act in
ways that will promote their interest over those
opponents.
Politics could also be viewed as “the process of
making government policies”. Thus, it comes to
the study of political science. The development of
political science as a discipline could be traced
from the time of Aristotle when he wrote the first
systematic work focused on political affairs
known as the Politics that named him the Father
of Political Science. The Father of Modern
Political Science, Niccolo Machiavelli, wrote
“The Prince” a handbook for rulers in the
government..
Thus, in contemporary time proof. Francis Lieber also
wrote “Manual of Politics Ethics”; the first systematic
treatise on political science the gives as a well thorough
understanding of the discipline. In the Philippines,
Department of Political Science was establish in the
College of Liberal Arts in 1915, University of the
Philippines. Teodoro M. Kalaw is the First Filipino
student of politics and defined political science in his
Manual Ciencia Politica in 1918 as, “the nature and
organization of the state, the structure, and functions of
the high branches of government, and the theory of
political and civil liberties (Agpalo, 1998)”.
Political Science is defined as the systematic study of
political governmental insulations and process (Ranney,
1995). It is a discipline that seeks to understand the
relationship between individual and political institutions.
Political institutions defined as collections of relevant
rules and routines that determines appropriate actions
regarding relations between roles and situations
involving the determination of what the situation is, what
role is being fulfilled, and what obligation of that part in
that situation is (Peters, 2021).
Politics always involves the making of
collective decisions for group of people;
Those decisions are made by some members of

the group exercising power over other member
of the group.
The Science of Politics
1. It is the basic knowledge and understanding of the

state and the principles and ideals which underlie its
organization and activities.
2. It is primarily concerned with the association of
human being into ‘body politic’ or in a political
community.
3. It deals with these relations among men and group
which are subject to control by the state with the
relations of men and groups to the state itself and
relations of the state to another state.
Stages in the Study of Political Science
1. Religious Stage- the government, its leader and laws

was considered as divine or divinely inspired.
2. Metaphysical Stage- the state was considered as a
human institution, and it is, therefore, absolute (cannot
be changed).
3. Modern Stage- the state was capable of being
improved by rules and subject according to certain
principles and laws.
Approaches of Defining Politics
In Heywood citing Hay (2002) and Leftwich (2004) identified

two broad approaches:
a. Politics as an Arena or Location- In here, politics in
associated with an arena or area, in which case behavior
becomes’ political because of where it takes place. This
includes the art of government and public affairs.
b.Political as a process of mechanism – In which case
‘political’ behavior is a behaviour that exhibits distinctive
characteristics or qualities, and so can take place in any, and
perhaps all, social context. It includes compromise and
consensus, and power and the distribution of resources
The Meaning of Governance
The concept of “governance” is as old as human
civilization. Governance was defined as “the process
of decision making and the process by which decision
are implemented (or not implemented)”. Governance
can be viewed in the following context: corporate
governance, international governance, national
governance and local governance (UNESCO for Asia
and the Pacific). Good governance assures that
corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are
taken into account ad that the voices of the most
vulnerable in society are heard in decision- making. It
is also responsive to the represent and future need of
society.
Good governance entails sound public sector
management (efficiency, effectiveness, and economy),
accountability, exchange and the free flow of information
(transparency), and a legal framework for development
(justice, respect to human rights and liberties) (Wyatt,
2005) Good governance is defined focusing on
legitimacy (government should have the consent of the
governed), accountability (ensuring transparency, being
answerable for actions and media freedom), competence
(effective policy making, implementation and service
delivery), and respect for law and human rights (Wyatt,
2005).
Characteristic of Good Governance
(UNESCO for Asia and the Pacific)
Participation
Participation as one the aspects of good
governance, by both men and women, must
partake directly or indirectly (having a
representative) in every governmental process.
This is because participation is an essential
cornerstone of good governance
Rule of Law
The rule of law means to say that good

governance manifested through the impartiality
of fair legal framework such as the promotion of
a full protection of human rights dignity
especially those members of minorities.
Transparency
Transparency means that decisions were

taken, and their enforcement are done in a
manner that follows rules and regulations. It
also means that information is freely available
and directly accessible to those who will be
affected by such decision and their
enforcement. It also means that enough
information is provided and that it is provided
easily understandable forms and media.
Responsiveness
Good governance requires that institutions and processes

try to serve all stakeholders with in reasonable
timeframe.
Consensus oriented
Good governance requires mediation of the different
interest in society to reach a broad consensus in society on
what it is in the best interest of the whole community and
how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long
term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human
development and how to achieve the goals of such
development.
Effectiveness and efficiency
Good governance means that processes and institutions

produce results that meet the needs of society while
making the best use of resources at their disposal. The
concept of efficiency in the context of good governance
also covers the suitable use of natural resources and the
protection of the environment.
Accountability
Accountability is a crucial requirement for good

governance. Not only governmental insulations
but also the private sector and civil society
organizations must be accountable to the public
and their institutional stakeholders.

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PHILIPPINE

The Concepts of Politics

1. Define politics and governance and

2.Develop critical thinking and in

3.Recognize the value and evaluate the

Answer the following questions:

Politics is the study of “who gets what, when and how” as

Those decisions are made by some members of

1. It is the basic knowledge and understanding of the

1. Religious Stage- the government, its leader and laws

In Heywood citing Hay (2002) and Leftwich (2004) identified

The rule of law means to say that good

Transparency means that decisions were

Good governance requires that institutions and processes

Good governance means that processes and institutions

Accountability is a crucial requirement for good

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