MODULE 1:WEEK 1

Concepts, Relationship and Importance of Politics, Governance and Government

Concepts, Relationship and Importance of Politics,
Governance and Government

David Easton (1917-2014) and Harold Laswell (1902-1978) provide the widely accepted views that
politics is about governing. Easton defined politics as “the authoritative allocation of values for a society”. (1953)
and the study of politics as “understanding how authoritative decisions are made and executed for a society”
(1957). Lasswell (1936) described the study of politics as “who gets what,when and how” which was also the
same title of his seminal book, Politics: Who Get What, When And How.
While articulated differently, the two definitions of politics and the study of politics are complementary.
Both Easton and Lasswell outline the dynamics of politics and help us understand that the ultimate and defining
purpose of politics is governing and making public policy. But first, let us be clear about politics as governing.
Politics as About Governing
Understanding Politics as about governing requires us to differentiate between the concepts of “governing” and
“government”. The notion of governing is broader and has a wider applicability than government.

Government: is term generally used to describe the formal institutions through which a group of people is ruled
or governed. The term extends to include the persons and organizations that makes, enforce, and apply political
decisions for a society (Mendoza, 1999a).

Governing: on the other hand, includes institutions other than those of the government that are involved in
governing, at least in the broadest sense. These other institutions can include labor and trade unions,
corporations, universities, church organizations, social movement organizations that “are all involved in one way
or another in setting rules or conventions (or seeking to do so) which govern some aspects of behavior of their
members” (Leftwitch 2011, 10).

Governance: The concept of “governance” is even broader than governing. Lefwitch (2011, 10) captures the
broad notion of governance as:

CONTENT: Politics, Governance, and Other Key Concepts

The meaning of politics
 Politics is the study of (who gets what, when and how) as Harold Laswell states.
 Politics is the exercise of power, the science of government, the making of collective decisions,
the allocation of scarce resources and the practice of deception and manipulation.

Characteristics of politics ( Shieveley, 2013)

1. Politics always involves the making of collective decisions for group of people.

2. Those decisions are made by some members of the group, exercising power over other members of the
group.

The Science of Politics

1.It is the basic knowledge and understanding of the state and principles and ideals which underlie its
organization and activities.
2.It is primarily concerned with association of human beings into “body politic” or in a political community.
3.It deals with those relations among men and groups to the state itself and the relations of the state to another
state.

LESSON1: Politics, Governance, and Other Key Concepts

A bit of History…
The Greeks formulated the word politics during the 4th and 5th century. Politics was inseparable
form life in the polis or a place or a place state shared by a certain group of people. This concept of politics may
be as old as the first organization created by man.

POLITICAL SCIENCE
-deals with the study of power in society, politics, and government.
-is the academic discipline that deals with key issues and concepts in politics.

Stages in the study of Political Science

1.Religious Stage- the government,its leaders and laws was considered as divine or divinely inspired
2.Metaphysical Stage- the state was considered as ahuman intitutions,and it is therefore,absolute (cannot be
changed)
3.Modern stage- the state was deemed capable of being improved by rules and subjects according to certain
principles and laws.
Social contract Theorist…
Thomas Hobbes
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
John Locke
They stressed the hypothetical state of nature that was devoid of any kind of government.
Niccolò Machiavelli
-is widely accepted as the father of modern political science, because of his discussion on maintaining
power.

Both Plato and Aristotle had already provided broad discussions of the central concepts in politics such as the
concept of:
JUSTICE (what and who is morally and politically right)
POWER (source of authority)
RIGHT TYPES OF CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT (different types of governments and states)
POLITICAL STRUCTURES (different ideologies in a state)
RIGHT VIRTUOUS LEADERSHIP (who should lead in a certain political system) (Curtis, 1981)
POLITICAL THEORY
-deals with the different perspective and ideas regarding politics and governance of different political
philosophers form the ancient times.
Political Methodology
-is more concerned upon the application of political concepts into research and policy making almost
similar to the applied nature of public administration. (Roskin et al. 2007)
Comparative Politics
-is about comparing various political systems and different constitutions among different countries
through time. (Roskin et al. 2007)
International relations
-bear resemblance to comparative politics; but instead of comparing, it concentrates on establishing and
maintaining relations among countries through time. (Roskin et al. 2007)
Law
-is basically any written statement that limits or guides the behavior of a certain group.

The Meaning of Governance

Governance- defined as the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented
or not implemented.

Context of Governance:
a. corporate governance
b. international governance
c. national governance
d. local governance
Characteristics of Good Governance (UNESCO for Asia and the Pacific)

 Participation -one aspects of good governance, by both men and women, must participate take directly
or indirectly (having a representative) in every governmental process. This is because participation is an
essential cornerstone of good governance.
 Rule of Law- means to say the good governance manifested through the impartiality of fair legal
framework such as the promotion of a full protection of human rights and dignity especially those
members of minorities.
 Transparency-means that decision was taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows
rules and regulations. The information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be
affected by such decision and their enforcement.
 Responsiveness- requires the institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a
reasonable timeframe.
 Consensus Oriented- requires mediation of the different interests in society to reach a broad
consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be
achieved.
 Effectiveness and efficiency- means that processes and institutions produce result that meet the
needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal.
 Accountability- crucial requirement for good governance. Not only governmental institutions but also
the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and their institutional
stakeholders.