LESSON 1 FACT SHEET

LESSON OBJECTIVES

• Discuss the nature, characteristics, and other key concepts about politics,
governance, and government.
• Determine the interrelatedness of politics, governance, and government. •
Evaluate the necessity and importance of politics, governance, and
government.
• Articulate how understanding of society’s political structure can sharpen
one’s social awareness.

LESSON OVERVIEW

1. On Politics (Atienza, Lusterio-Rico, Arugay, Encinas-Franco, & Quilala, 2016)

Politics refers to the activities through which people make, preserve, and amend
the general rules under which they live. It involves the dynamics of conflict
resolution and cooperation, as well as the exercise of power.

In its broadest meaning, power refers to the ability to do something to achieve a

desired outcome.

2. On Governance (Biswas, 2022)

Governance can be defined as “the exercise of political authority and the use
of institutional resources to manage problems and the affairs of the society”.

According to World Bank, governance is the manner in which power is exercised

in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for
development.”

To Hyden “Governance is the stewardship of the formal and informal political

rules of the game. Governance refers to those measures that involve setting the
rules for the exercise of power and settling conflict over such rules”

3. On Government (Toppr, n.d.)

 A government is an institution or a system made of a group of people that takes
care or manages a country or a state. Every government has its own constitution
or a set of fundamental principles that it follows to ensure effective governance.
Once appointed or formed, the government is responsible for the social welfare,
law and order, defense, and financial affairs of the country.
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Humans are inherently social and rely on social interactions. Unlike other species,
humans rely on social interactions to survive. From this social interaction comes
cooperation, conflict, threats or disagreements that may result to binding solutions or
social actions.

The study of politics entails using different approaches or perspectives and political
scientist also uses tools in understanding the political world.

The philosophical tradition, otherwise known as political philosophy, is regarded as the

traditional approach to politics. The Greek Philosophers Plato and Aristotle are usually
associated with this tradition as they asked what “should” or “ought” instead of what
“is”. This tradition underscored the analytical study of doctrines that have become the
major focus of political thought.

Politics can also be studied though empirical tradition. Political scientists who advocate
this approach believe that any account of political reality must be impartial and should
thus be tested through observation. Those who work in this tradition therefore seek to
analyze and explain, and not to offer recommendations, as in the philosophical
traditions.

Mainstream political analysis has also been dominated by the scientific tradition. This
tradition promotes objective and quantifiable ways of studying politics. The scientific
tradition was further pushed with the rise of the behavioralism, or the belief that social
theories should arise from observation and quantifiable data.

Recent theoretical approaches contribute in widening the perspective of studying

political science. Among these include rational choice theory, new institutionalism, and
critical theory, which includes feminism, Marxism, and other post-positivist and
postmodernist approaches. Unlike behavioralism, post-positivism is an approach that
emphasizes how people conceive or “construct” the political world (Villanueva, 2017).
Atienza, M. E., Lusterio-Rico, R., Arugay, A., Encinas-Franco, J., & Quilala, D. (2016).
Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics. Quezon City: C&E Publishing,
Inc.

Biswas, A. (2022, March 23). Governance: Meaning, Definition, 4 Dimensions, And Types.
Retrieved from School of Political Science:
https://schoolofpoliticalscience.com/definitions-and-types-of-governance/

Toppr. (n.d.). Meaning of Government. Retrieved from Toppr:

https://schoolofpoliticalscience.com/definitions-and-types-of-governance/