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FUNCTION OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
 
•
to discover the principles that should beadhered to in public affairs
•
to study the operations of governmentin order to demonstrate what is good, tocriticize what is bad or inefficient, andto suggest improvements
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OFPOLITICAL SCIENCE
•
useful to constitution-makers, legislators,executives and judges who need models or norms that can be applied to immediatesituations
•
useful to individuals who seek to understandthe state in which they live
GOALS IN THE STUDY OF POLITICALSCIENCE COURSES
 
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Education for Citizenship
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Essential parts of liberal education
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Knowledge and understanding of government
Government,
political organization comprising theindividuals and institutions authorized to formulate public policies and conduct affairs of state.
State
-A community of persons, more or lessnumerous, permanently occupying a fixed territoryand possessed of an independent governmentorganised for political ends to which the great bodyof inhabitants render habitual obedience.
ELEMENTS OF STATE1.PEOPLE
•
inhabitants of the state
•
Community
of persons
sufficient in no
. &capable of maintaining the
continuedexistence
of the community & held together  by a
common bond
of law
•
Doesn’t matter if they possess diverse racial,cultural or economic interests
2.GOVERNMENT
a.
The agency or instrumentality, throughwhich the will of the state is formulated,expressed and realized. b.the institution or aggregate of institutions bywhich an independent society makes andcarries out those rules of action which arenecessary to enable men to live in a socialState, or which are imposed upon the peopleforming that society by those who possessthe power or authority of prescribing them.
3.
TERRITORY
-fixed portion of the surfaceof the earth, inhabited by the people of thestate. The territory must not be too small asto be unable to provide for the needs of the people; nor should it be too large as to bedifficult to administer. The territory canextend to over a vast expanse, like China or Russia, or be as small as Abu Dhabi.
COMPONENTS OF TERRITORY
a.
terrestrial domain-the land mass maritime or fluvial domain-inland and external watersaerial domain- the air space above the landand water.
4. SOVEREIGNTY
•
means the supreme, uncontrollable power,the absolute right to govern.
•
The supreme will of the State, the power tomake laws, and enforce them by all themeans of coercion it cares to employ.
•
Legal sovereignty: power to adapt/alter theconstitution or supreme power to make lawsvs. Political sovereignty: sum total of all theinfluences in a state, legal & non-legal w/cdetermine the course of law
THEORIES OF THE ORIGIN OF STATE
1.
Voluntaristic theories
said that at some point in their history, certain peoplesspontaneously rationally and voluntarilygave up their individual sovereignties andunited with other communities to form alarger political unit deserving to be called astate.
a.
"automatic" theory
. According to thistheory, the invention of agricultureautomatically brought into being a surplus of food, enabling some individuals to divorcethemselves from food production and to become potters, weavers, smiths, masons,and so on, thus creating an extensivedivision of labor.
2.
Coercive Theories
A close examination of history indicates that only a coercive theorycan account for the rise of the state. Forceand not enlightened self-interest. is themechanism by which political evolution hasled. step by step, from autonomous villagesto the state.
3.
Social contract theory
provides therationale behind the historically importantnotion that legitimate state authority must bederived from the consent of the governed. 
STATE, AS DISTINGUISHED FROM NATION
The state pertains to a legal concept, while the nationrefers to a racial or ethnic concept.…
AS DISTINGUISHED FROM GOVERNMENT
The government is only an element of the state. Thegovernment is an agent, and the State is the principal.The government externalizes the will of the State.
FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
The government performs two functions— 
theconstituent and the ministrant.
 
1.
CONSTITUENT
-constitute the bonds of society. Constituent functions consist of fixing of legal relations between husbandand wife, parents and children; keeping of order and providing protection fromviolence; regulation of the holding,transmission and interchange of property;determination of liabilities for debt or crime;determination of contractual rights betweenindividuals; definition and punishment of crimes, administration of justice in civilcases; administration of political duties, privileges, and relations of citizens, anddealings of the state with foreign powers, preservation of state from external dangers,and the advancement of internationalinterests.
2.
MINISTRANT
functions-are those taken toadvance the general interests of society— such as public works, public charity,regulation of trade and industry.
FORMS OF GOVERNMENT: DE Jure and DeFacto governments
A
de jure
government has rightful title but no power or control, because it may have been withdrawn or ithas not yet actually entered into exercise. On theother hand, a
de facto
government is a government of fact—it actually exercises power or control, but hasno legal title.
WHAT IS A CONSTITUTION?
•
A Constitution is the fundamental organiclaw of a State which contains the principleson which the government is founded andregulates the division and exercise of sovereign powers.
•
A body of rules and maxims in accordancewith which the powers of sovereignty arehabitually exercised.
THE SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION
The Constitution is the most basic and most paramount law to which all other laws must conformand to which all persons including the higher officialsof the land must defer. No act shall be valid however noble its intentions if it is in conflict with theConstitution. The Constitution must reign supreme.
IMPORTANCE, NATURE AND PURPOSE OFCONSTITUTION
1.
The people exercise d control of their government primarily through theConstitution which protects from unjustexercise of governmental power and through periodic elections by means of which theychoose the officers to represent them.2.A constitution is the supreme or fundamentallaw creating the government having beenenacted by the people themselves.
3.
The purpose of the constitution is to drawframework or general outline of the systemof the government and to specific therespective powers and functions of thevarious branches of government comprisingthis framework.
KINDS/CLASSIFICATION of CONSTITUTIONAs to their origin and history
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Conventional or enacted one
which isenacted by a constituent assembly or granted by a monarch to his subjects
•
Cumulative or evolved-one
which is the product of growth or a long period of development originating in customs,traditions, judicial decisions rather than fromdeliberate and formal enactment
As to their form:
•
Written-one
which has been given definitewritten form at a particular time usually by aspecially constituted authority calledconstitutional convention
•
Unwritten-one
which is entirely the productof political evolution ,consisting largely of amass of customs, usages and judicialdecisions together with a smaller body of statutory enactments of a fundamentalcharacter, usually bearing different dates
As to manner of amending them:
•
Rigid or inelastic-one
regarded as adocument of a special sanctity which cannot be amended or altered except by somespecial machinery more cumbrous than theordinary legislative process.
•
Flexible or elastic-one
which possess nohigher legal authority than ordinary laws andwhich may be altered in the same way asother laws.
CONSTIUTUTION DISTINGUISHED FORMSTATUTE
1.A constitution is a law give \n directly by the people while a statute is enacted by the people’s representative2.A constitution is the fundamental law of the state on which all other laws or statute are based
BASIC PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING OUR CONSTITUTION
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Recognition of the Almighty God
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Sovereignity of the people
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Supremacy of civilian authorityover the military
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Separation of Church and State
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Guarantee of human rights
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Government through suffrage
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Separation of powers
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Independence of the judiciary
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Rule of the majority
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Government of laws and not of men
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