Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region I
Schools Division Office I Pangasinan
Pangasinan National High School
Lingayen, Pangasinan

The Concept, Relationship and Importance

of Politics, Governance and Government

QUARTER 3-WEEK 1- MODULE 1

Most Essential Learning Competency:
Explain the concept, relationship and importance of politics, governance
and government.

Prepared by:

MARIA ANGELICA S. RELUCIO-Teacher II

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 3rd QUarter- WEEK 1
THE INTRODUCTION TO POLITICS, GOVERNANCE &
GOVERNMENT
INTRODUCTION

Politics is exciting because people disagree. They disagree about how they should live. Who should get
what? How should power and other resources be distributed? Should society be based on cooperation or
conflict? And so on. They also disagree about how such matters should be resolved. How should
collective decisions be made? Who should have a say? How much influence should each person have?
And so forth. For Aristotle, this made politics the ‘master science’: that is, nothing less than the activity
through which human beings attempt to improve their lives and create the Good Society. Politics is, above
all, a social activity. It is always a dialogue, and never a monologue.

PRE-TEST Direction: Read the statement below and check the box with the correct answer.
1. It refers to the action of the government. State Governance

2. The process of conflict resolution. Political Science Politics

3. It means working together; achieving goals through collective action. Conflict Cooperation

4. This means free flow of information. Accountability Transparency

5. A means by which organizational policies are enforced. Governance Government

WHAT IS IT?

Politics (from Greek: Πολιτικά, politiká, 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are
associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between individuals, such
as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies politics is referred to
as political science.
 POLIS – city-state • POLITES – citizens • POLITIKOS – government officials (Zaide, 1983)

Conflict: POLITICS • “the heart of Political Science” • It is the activity of people where they create, preserve and
Competition
between opposing amend laws under which they live.
forces,
reflecting a
diversity of
POLITICS as the art of government. • Politics is what defines the activities of the government and of the
opinions,
preferences, needs
state. All government officials and all those working in government are participating in politics.
or
interests.
POLITICS as public affair. • Politics is played by everybody, politicians or not. • In politics, Aristotle
 said that “man by nature is a political animal;” this means that it is only within a political community that
Cooperation: human beings can live the good life. • Thus, politics becomes necessary to create a just society.
Working
together; POLITICS as compromise and consensus. • Politics is meant to resolve conflict. • In politics, compromise,
achieving goals
through collective
action.
conciliation and negotiation become necessary. • It is through these means that issues and problems are
being resolved. • Thus, politics becomes the process of conflict resolution.Politics is thus inextricably
linked to the phenomena of conflict and cooperation
POLITICS as power. • Politics happens in all human interactions: within the family, among friends,
among officemates, etc. • Politics can, therefore, be seen as struggle over scarce resources, and power can
be seen as the means through which struggle is conducted.Focuses its study on the actual actions or
decisions of the state.

Politics is concerned with issues, problems and activities of the state while political science is concerned
on how the state originated, its nature and its functions. An academic discipline deals with the theoretical
study of the state and government. A political scientist observes how to state makes decision, and how the
state’s decision affects people. In the modern perspectives, political science studies politics. The state and
government are the key factors in the study of political science and politics. Thus, political science cannot
be differentiated from politics.

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5 REASONS TO STUDY POLITICS
1. Politics will help you to know your rights.
2. Politics clarifies what you yourself believes.
3. Politics is a living, breathing subject.
4. Politics helps you to understand our nation’s parties.
5. Politics prepares you for adult life.

What is GOVERNANCE?
• the action of the government.
• “the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented.” (Sheng, UNESCAP)
• “a government’s ability to make and enforce rule and to deliver services, regardless of whether the
government is democratic or not.” -Fukuyama (2013)
• In the early Indian history, back to at least 400 B.C, governance includes emphasizing justice, ethics and
anti- autocratic tendencies.
• Moreover, World Bank (2007) defines governance as “the manner in which public officials and institutions
acquire and exercise the authority to shape public policy and provide public goods and services.” NOTE:
Decisions should not be influenced by interest of the few, values and preference.

8 CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

1. Participation – active involvement of all affected and interested parties in the decision- making process.
2. Rule of Law - legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially.
3. Transparency - free flow of information.
4. Responsiveness - serve all stakeholders.
5. Consensus Oriented - mediates differing interests.
6. Equity and Inclusiveness - all its members have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being.
7. Effectiveness and efficiency - produce results that meet needs while making the best use of resources .
8. Accountability - accountable to the public.

GOVERNMENT
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In
the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive,
and judiciary. Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a
mechanism for determining policy. Each government has a kind of constitution, a statement of its
governing principles and philosophy.
While all types of organizations have governance, the term government is often used more specifically, to
refer to the approximately 200 independent national governments and subsidiary organizations.

Historically prevalent forms of government

include monarchy, aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, theocracy and tyranny. The main aspect
of any philosophy of government is how political power is obtained, with the two main forms
being electoral contest and hereditary succession.
One method of classifying governments is through which people have the authority to rule. This can
either be one person (an autocracy, such as monarchy), a select group of people (an aristocracy), or the
people as a whole (a democracy, such as a republic).

Politics is the process by which people decide how to live together – whether it is a family, a school, or a nation.
Government is the system used to make the decisions. There are many different systems of government – ranging from
autocracy to democracy. In a democracy everyone has the right to an equal say, and decisions are made through discussion and
voting. In school, young people reflect on different systems of government and how decisions are made in their school and
society. They learn about the practice of democratic politics through participation in class and student council elections.

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ABOUT OUR GOVERNMENT
The Philippines is a republic with a presidential form of government wherein power is equally
divided among its three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The government seeks to
act in the best interests of its citizens through this system of check and balance.

POST TEST Direction: Identify what is being asked from the following statements.
1. A statement of its governing principles and philosophy.
2. A form of government that everyone has the right to an equal say, and decisions are
made through discussion and voting.
3. The set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other
forms of power relations between individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status.
4. Competition between opposing forces, reflecting a diversity of opinions, preferences,
needs or interests.
5. An academic discipline deals with the theoretical study of the state and government.
6. It authorized to make laws, alter, and repeal them through the power vested in the
Philippine Congress.
7. Good governance characteristic that mediates differing interests.
8. Form of government that ruled by one person.
9. The manner in which public officials and institutions acquire and exercise the
authority to shape public policy and provide public goods and services
10. A Greek word which means “city-state”.

--ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Draw a political cartoon of what good governance would look like.

▪ Make it unique and eye catching.

▪ Creativity and humor help.
▪ Using familiar figures also helps dramatically

Rubrics for Scoring

Relevance of Concept ................10POINTS

Familiar figures used .................. 8POINTS

Creativity and Humor ................ 7POINTS

Total- 25 POINTS

REFERENCE

BOOK:
PHILIPPINE Politics and Governance for Senior High School pages 8-12 Victoria O. LiganGerlieta S. Ruiz Mona L.Laya

INTERNET WEBSITE:
https://www.living-democracy.com/key-concepts/government-and-politics/
https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter17-government-and-politics/
https://www.slideshare.net/aybipolidario/introduction-the-concepts-of-politics-and-governance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics
https://www.gov.ph/philippine-government

Enrichment Activity credits to Mam Liberty C. Diaz

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