State and Governments in the Philippines

Elements of State
Politics is widely practiced in the state and its agency, the government. According to
Webster’s dictionary, a state is a politically organized body of people usually occupying
a definite territory. As quoted by Gardner, is a community of persons more or less
numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of territory, possessing a
government of their own to which the great body of inhabitants render habitual
obedience and free from external control. From the given definition, it justified its four
elements: people, territory, government, and sovereign.

1. People– the people constitute the most important requisite of the State. It is
composed of the citizens owing allegiance to it and other nationals of foreign
governments who shall necessarily uphold the sovereign power of the State.
Although there is no requirement as to the number of people that should reside
in the State but this is dependent on the size of the territory of the State. In the
definition, it is stated that the “community of persons should be more or less
numerous”, which signifies that if the territory is big or large then it needs a
“more numerous numbers of people.” But if it is small, it needs only a “less
numerous numbers of people” to reside in it. China and India, for instance,
exemplify more numerous people due to their large territory. These are two
countries which have more than a billion in population at 1.1 and 1.4 billion
people, respectively. Vatican, a city within a city and a State within a State, has
only a population of more than a thousand composed mostly of clerics and
security personnel. This is because its land area is as large only as that of the
Rizal Park in the Philippines.

2. Territory – this element together with “people” is the most important element of
the State. The people might exist but if they do not have a fixed territory to live in
would render useless their existence. They will be considered nomadic people of
the olden times and are Stateless in modern context. As an element of the State, is
there any requirement as to the size of the territory needed by the people? The
definition of the State can clarify this question. It says in the definition that the
State is “permanently occupying a definite portion of territory.” The term used is
clear and unambiguous that it should be “permanent and definite portion of
territory.” The Philippines, for instance, is a small country, which has a land area
of 300,000 square kilometers or 115,000 square miles more or less. This territory is
inhabited by about 91 million Filipinos. The existence of a territory is inhabited
by the Filipinos satisfies the requirement of a “permanent and definite” portion
 of territory. The countries that have big territories are Russia (17.07 million sq
km), Canada (9.98 million sq km.), the USA (9.63 million sq km.), China (9.59
million sq km.), and Brazil (8.5 million sq km.).

3. Government – this element is the agency through which the will of the State is
formulated, expressed, and carried out. The State is a perfect political institution
and it operates through its agency – the government. This agency of the State is
responsible in organizing all the people (citizens and foreigners), groups, sectors,
agencies, and offices, which are operating within the territorial boundaries and
jurisdiction of the country. The word Government, in capital “G,” is sometimes
used to refer to the person or aggregate of persons in whose hands are placed for
the time being the functions of political control. This body of men is usually
referred to as administration. This is the reason sometimes people will refer to
the government as the “Government of or the Administration of” Emilio
Aguinaldo (Manuel Quezon, Jose P. Laurel, Sergio Osmeña, Manuel Roxas,
Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal,
Ferdinand E. Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada). This
means that the term “Government” refers to the “President” in the case of
Presidential system or the “Prime Minister” in the case of Parliamentary system
of government.

4. Sovereignty – this requisite refers to the supreme power of the State to command
and enforce obedience to its inhabitants. The sovereign power of the State has
two manifestations: internal is the authority of the State to rule within its
territorial jurisdiction and the external is the freedom from control of other
States.

Kinds of Government
A. According to the number of persons who share in exercising the sovereign
powers of the Ste, Aristotle classified it as:

1. Monarchy – this is known as the rule of one. A monarchial government is ruled

by a King or by an Emperor. It is further classified as:

a. Absolute Monarchy – one in which the ruler rules by divine right. This claim to
divine right. This claim to divine right ruling is prevailed in the ancient oriental
empires where the rulers consider themselves as the descendants of God. The
Hebrew thought the Lord had created the governmental order, and early
Christians believed that God had imposed the State upon man as a punishment
of his sins. The Protestant Reformation strengthened this belief by the Monarchs
that they have received their authority to govern directly from God.

b. Constitutional Monarchy – one in which the authority of the ruler is limited by

the Constitution. Point in case was the Magna Carta (Great Charter) of 1215 of
the English people, which limited the power of the monarch. This signaled the
regeneration of a new kind of administrative order in governance.

2. Aristocracy – this is a government of the few for the benefit of the few. Or one in
which political power is exercised by a few privileged classes like the
intellectuals or the rich people.

3. Democracy – this is the government of the many. The Americans defined it as

the government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Democracy is
further classified as:

a. Direct or Pure Democracy – one in which the will of the State in formulated or
expressed directly by the people in a mass meeting or assembly.

b. Indirect, Representative, or republican – one in which the will of the State is

formulated and expressed through the select body or persons or delegates
chosen by the people to act as their representatives in the government.

B. According to the nature of tenure of the officials

1. Hereditary– one ruled by a person’s deriving powers from their predecessors
who are related to them by consanguinity. Emperorship or kingship is an
example of this government.

2. Elective or Popular – one in which the administrators of the government are

chosen by the people through the electoral process of a certain country.

C. According to the distribution or concentration of governmental powers

1. Unitary or Centralized – one in which the powers of government are

concentrated in the central government represented by the majority party in
power.

2. Federal – one in which governmental powers are distributed between the central
government and the local governments or states. Each one is being supreme
within its territorial boundaries but not in external relations.

D. According to the relationship of the legislature and the executive

1. Parliamentary System – one in which the Chief Executive (the Prime Minister)
and his cabinet is directly responsible to the legislative branch of the government
whereas, the head of the State occupies the position of irresponsibility. The head
of the State is just a ceremonial figure.

2. Presidential System - one in which the chief Executive (the President) is directly
responsible to the people for he is directly chosen by them during elections. The
three branches of the government: the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive
are distinct and separate from each other. The legislature enacts the law, the
executive executes the law, and the judiciary applies or interprets the law.