Basale, Christian Jay

BSED 318

GOVERNMENT and LAW

As a political being, we engage in the politics of life and whether we like it or not, politics
will always be part of our lives. It is something we cannot do without. For as long as we need to
have some social organization, we need government and politics is precisely the "theory, art,
and practice of government." We need people who will be vested with authority to exercise
power and assume responsibility over the governance of society. We need law and order to
preserve our norms and values and to regulate and control the relationship of people with one
another. We need political leaders who would steer the ship of state towards the promotion of
social, political and economic well-being of its people. In its precise sense, politics means the
practice of statecraft or of governing a country.

Politics- is the practice of statecraft or governing a country

-known as statemanship

-better known as demagoguery

-theory, art and practice of government

Political Leaders- who would steer the ship of the state towards the promotion of social,
political and economic well-being of its people.

POLITICAL CONCEPT

(4 Elements)

*People *Government

*Territory *Sovereignty

Law- the whole system or set of rules made by the government of a town, state, country, etc.

-a rule made by the government of town, state, country, etc.

State- is a structure that has the legal authority or right to make rules that are binding over a
given population w/in a given territory.

Sovereignty- it has the power to make decisions that cannot be overruled by any other body

- Unlimited Power

Government- it is derived from a Greek verb "to pilot a ship"

 -to steer the ship of the state

-is an institution by which a community organizes itself.

Government is an institution by which a community organizes itself in order to attain the

members' individual and collective welfare. It is the agency or instrumentality by which the
sovereign will of a people is expressed and executed in the effort to attain their vision of a
peaceful and properous society. (Lawson, 1987)

PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT

PREAMBLE to the Philippine Constitution

*to promote the common good

*conserve and develop our patrimony

*secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy

FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE

*The maintenance of peace and order (through the national and local police and military)

*The regulation and control of the lives of the people (legislative enactments of laws and rules
as code of conduct)

*The administration of justice (through the courts)

*The protection and defense of the state from outside invasion (through the Armed Forces of
the State)

*Maintenance of the strong economic ties to the world of commerce

GOVERNMENT POWERS

(ENACT, EXECUTE and INTERPRET THE LAW)

How the Philippine Government Is Organized

The Philippines is a republic with a presidential form of government wherein power is

equally divided among its three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
One basic corollary in a presidential system of government is the principle of separation
of powers wherein legislation belongs to Congress, execution to the Executive, and
settlement of legal controversies to the Judiciary.

The Legislative branch is authorized to make laws, alter, and repeal them through the
power vested in the Philippine Congress. This institution is divided into the Senate and
the House of Representatives.

The Executive branch carries out laws. It is composed of the President and the Vice
President who are elected by direct popular vote and serve a term of six years. The
Constitution grants the President authority to appoint his Cabinet. These departments
form a large portion of the country’s bureaucracy.
The Judicial branch evaluates laws. It holds the power to settle controversies involving
rights that are legally demandable and enforceable. This branch determines whether or
not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction on the part and instrumentality of the government. It is made up of a
Supreme Court and lower courts.

Each branch of government can change acts of the other branches as follows:

The President can veto laws passed by Congress.

Congress confirms or rejects the President's appointments and can remove the
President from office in exceptional circumstances.

The Justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are
appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

The Philippine government seeks to act in the best interests of its citizens through this
system of checks and balances.

The Constitution expressly grants the Supreme Court the power of Judicial Review as
the power to declare a treaty, international or executive agreement, law, presidential
decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance or regulation unconstitutional.

Legislative Department

The Legislative Branch enacts legislation, confirms or rejects Presidential appointments,

and has the authority to declare war. This branch includes Congress (the Senate and
House of Representatives) and several agencies that provide support services to
Congress.

Senate – The Senate shall be composed of twenty-four Senators who shall be elected at
large by the qualified voters of the Philippines, as may be provided by law.

House of Representatives – The House of Representatives shall be composed of not

more than two hundred and fifty members, unless otherwise fixed by law, who shall be
elected from legislative districts apportioned among the provinces, cities, and the
Metropolitan Manila area in accordance with the number of their respective inhabitants,
and on the basis of a uniform and progressive ratio, and those who, as provided by law,
shall be elected through a party-list system of registered national, regional, and sectoral
parties or organizations.

The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per cent of the total number of
representatives including those under the party list. For three consecutive terms after
the ratification of this Constitution, one-half of the seats allocated to party-list
representatives shall be filled, as provided by law, by selection or election from the
labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such
other sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.

Executive Department

The executive branch carries out and enforces laws. It includes the President, Vice
President, the Cabinet, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards,
commissions, and committees.

Key roles of the executive branch include:

President – The President leads the country. He/she is the head of state, leader of the
national government, and Commander in Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines.
The President serves a six-year term and cannot be re-elected.

Vice President – The Vice President supports the President. If the President is unable to
serve, the Vice President becomes President. He/she serves a six-year term.

The Cabinet – Cabinet members serve as advisors to the President. They include the
Vice President and the heads of executive departments. Cabinet members are
nominated by the President and must be confirmed by the Commission of
Appointments.

Judicial Department

The judicial branch interprets the meaning of laws, applies laws to individual cases, and
decides if laws violate the Constitution. The judicial power shall be vested in one
Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law.

Judicial power includes the duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies
involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable, and to determine
whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess
of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government. The
judicial branch interprets the meaning of laws, applies laws to individual cases, and
decides if laws violate the Constitution.

Ideology – is a system of values, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes that a society or groups within it
share and accept as truth or facts
POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
Four major ideology:
1. Conservatives – believing that some people are born into “a natural aristocracy.” They
believe in the preservation of traditional moral standards and values.
2. Liberals – believe that all human beings are capable of reason and rational action and
should be helped by their governments to fulfill their potential.
3. Socialist – believe that human beings are naturally sociable and cooperative, and that
only the establishment of non-socialist governments and exploitative work arrangement
has interfered with these natural instincts.
4. Fascism – fascists think that some human beings are naturally better than others, but for
them being better means belonging to the “right” race or nationality.

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT

Autocracy- it is a government in the hand of a single absolute ruler

-derived from the Greek "autokrateia" - "auto" means self and "krateia" means "rule"

-someone who insists on his way and will not defer to Others.

-he makes the law, executes the law and interprets the law. Law maker, the chief Executive and
the Judiciary-rolled into one.

-he is above the law/he is the law

Oligarchy- is the form of government in which power is in the hands of a few

-derived from the Greek "oligarchein" - "Oligos" means few, "archein" means rule

-these economic and political elites tend to act in liaison because they have more or less similar
social backgrounds and have developed a commonness of interests, values and attitudes.

Democracy- is the form of government by the people, usually through their representatives.

-Comes from the Greek word "demokrateia" - "demos" means people and "krateia" means rule

-a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

The republic is guided by the general principles of social equality; social justice, equality before
the law, the supremacy of the law, separation of powers, the exercise of political, religious and
civil freedoms, the right of suffrage, separation of church and state, public accountability,
sovereign equality of states, amity and friendly relations with other state, and other similar.

Socialism- a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by
the government rather than by individual people and companies

-it emerged as the most pervasive political ideology of the 20th century

NATURE OF POWER

Political power is a basic force in the political processes and in structuring society. It
involves efforts to control the acts of others. The police power of the government, for instance,
is so powerful and encompassing that there is truism in such glib comments as "Power is the
very heart of politics."

Power means getting others to comply "by creating the prospect of severe sanctions for
noncompliance." (Robert Dahl)

According to Max Weber (1918-1949) power is the "ability" to control orher people's behavior,
authority is the "right" to do so.