Chapter 1

STARTING POINT FOR THE

UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURE,
SOCIETY AND POLITICAL
IDENTITIES
I. Manifestations of Human variations through
cultural diversity, social differences and
political identities.

 Cultural diversity:
Culture refers to “that complex whole which
encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws,
norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and everything
that a person learns and share as a member of society.
 Social differences/ stratification
 Which describes the relative social position of persons in a given social group,
category, geographical region or other social unit.

4 major types of social stratification:

a. caste- hereditary endogamous social group in which a persons rank and hiss/ her
rights and obligations are ascribed or on her birth into a particular group.
b. Class- a person’s position is based upon achievement.
c. estate- gives emphasis to birth as well as wealth and possessions.
d. Slavery- had economic basis wherein the master shows power over a slave.
 Political identities
Government- is the system by which a state or community is controlled so as to
put an order.
different types of government around the world.
1. Parliamentary republics
2. Presidential republics- Executive presidency linked to a parliament
3. Semi- presidential republics
4. Full- Presidential republics
5. Parliamentary constitutional monarchies
6. Constitutional monarchies
7. Absolute monarchies
8. Republics- dominant role of a single party is codified in the constitution.
9. Constitutional provisions for government have been suspended.
II. Significance of studying culture,
society and politics
 Social science is a very complex study.
 It is divided many areas:
a. anthropology( culture)
b. Sociology ( society)
c. Political science ( political identities and government)
 Anthropology
Is the “holistic science of man” a science of the totality of human
existence.

2 broad fields of anthropology:

a. physical anthropology/ biological- is mainly concerned about how humans
emerged and evolved through time.
b. cultural anthropology- is basically concerned with the differences of
cultures from time to time.
3 main branches of cultural anthropology:
a. archeology- studies past cultures through tangible or material remains.
b. anthropological linguistics- study of languages where experts explain the
differences of languages by culture and how it is constructed.
c. ethnology- study of recent or present cultures.
 Sociology
 Is the study of relationships among people. It is the study of society and the
behavior of people in the society.

2 major approaches to examine human society:

1. from a macrolevel perspective
2. microlevel perspective
 Political science
 Deals with the systems of government and the analysis of political activity and political
behavior.

 Subfields of Political science:

a. comparative politics
b. international relation
c. political theory
d. public administration
e. constitutional laws
f. public policy
Reference:
Understanding, Culture, Society and Politics. 2016. Myla M. Arcinas Ph. D. pp 1-13.