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UNIT 3 Unit Outcome:


POLITICAL
THOUGHT, GLOBAL At the end of this unit, the learners must have:
GOVERNANCE 1. discussed the Political Thought, Global
AND INTERSTATE Governance and Interstate System.
SYSTEM

Introduction

Governments do exist interdependently. In an open economic structure, one


country needs the support of other countries in terms of trade, military resources
and financial capital. However, a few countries decide to operate independent of
other nations for whatever reasons they find beneficial for themselves. It could
be the vast resources available within its territory that obtaining assets from other
countries is not necessary anymore, or the wealth of nation abundantly obtainable
as the needs arise. However, before countries decide to collaborate or not with other
countries, they collectively evolve and progress, calling themselves sovereign.

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Lesson 1. Introduction to Political Thought

Lesson Outcome:
At the end of this lesson, the learners must have:
1. described the theoretical formation of states over time as a by-product of
evolution, expansion and development.

1. Persons settling in one geographical territory, living in a community, sharing


similar purposes in life, obeying social contracts, organized by an authority,
and enjoying freedom from any external control is described as a State. Its
role is to create a healthy environment, conducive to attaining better welfare
and construct policy frameworks that enable various agencies of the state to
explore and realize the full potential of the people while maintaining workable
standard operations that support and protect public interest.

2. Max Weber (pronounced as Max Veba) defined a state as a polity that


maintains monopoly on the legitimate use of violence. It sounds very cruel
but is justifiable if it is to establish a standard behaviour among residents
of the state. For example paying taxes, keeping the environment clean,
respect to other members in the society, avoiding all actions that destroy the
future of the young like drug addiction, prostitution, theft and burglary, etc.

3. There are four (4) theories of a state: Force Theory, Evolutionary Theory,
Divine Right Theory and Social Contract Theory. A state is created through
some force, as the losers of war subject themselves to the victorious new
rulers; the Force Theory follows this thought. The evolutionary theory supports
the idea that formation of states developed naturally and gradually as by
product of historical development, factors of which include family and kinship,
religion, natural social instinct, economic needs and politics. (Evolutionary
Theory)

4. On the other hand, a political doctrine, in support to monarchical absolutism,


asserted that kings derived their authority from God and could not be
accountable for their actions by an earthly authority like the parliament. This
is the idea pushed by the Divine Right Theorists. The Social Contract Theory
is the view that persons’ moral and or political obligations are dependent
upon an agreement among them that form the society in which they live
(Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

5. What is then the role of the government running off the state?
Major State responsibilities include schools, hospitals, conservation and

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environment, roads, railways and public transport, public works, agriculture
and fishing, industrial relations, community services, sport and recreation,
consumer affairs, police, prisons and emergency services. These form
government spending and subsidies that are primarily sourced from
taxes. Moreover, government‘s role to development includes controls over
production, distribution, consumption of commodities. To achieve these
objectives, it devises physical controls, monetary and fiscal measures that
are essential for reducing economic and social inequalities (Suman) that
prevail in underdeveloped economies like the Philippines.

Technical Terms

1. Monetary measures are policies on money supply management and interest


rates regulation by the Central Bank that help achieve a macroeconomic
objective like curving inflation, regulating consumption, achieving target
growths and maintaining certain level of liquidity.

2. Fiscal measures are policy handles of the government like taxation and
government spending that greatly affect overall spending adjustments of the
country.

3. Economic inequality measures the extent to which income, most commonly


measured by household or individual, is distributed in an uneven manner.

4. Areas of social inequality include access to voting rights, freedom of speech


and assembly, the extent of property rights and access to education, health
care, quality housing, traveling, transportation, vacationing and other social
goods and services. Apart from that, it can also be seen in the quality of
family and neighbourhood life, occupation, job satisfaction, and access to
credit. (Social Inequality)

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Name: Score:
Curriculum and Section:
Subject:
Unit No.: Date:

Let’s Do This!

I. Group yourself by fives, if not possible work independently.

Kindly choose five states and describe its history, economic system,
military strengths, political structures and general provisions of the government
to the people. (This is worth 50 full points, 10 points for each country and 2
points in each variable). You may limit your answers in five paragraphs for each
country. Submit your work, written in Word, Tahoma, 11 font, single space and
1” margin everywhere on ________________________ to ramsaragrace@
yahoo.com.

Answer what is described in the following sentences.

1. The distribution of Social Amelioration Program is an indicator of


the presence of
(a) economic stability
(b) aristocracy
(c) democracy
(d) social inequality
(e) political will

2. Earning differences among people in the society indicates the


presence of
(a) economic stability
(b) aristocracy
(c) economic inequality
(d) social inequality
(e) political will

3. Tax revenues and government spending are tools of the


government called
(a) employment policy
(b) monetary policy

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(c) trade policy
(d) tax policy
(e) fiscal policy

4. The Central Bank is responsible in regulating


(a) corporate taxes
(b) money supply
(c) drug trafficking
(d) government‘s spending roads and bridges
(e) GSIS loans

5. Subsidies are primarily sourced from


(a) the banks
(b) the pork barrel
(c) taxes
(d) salaries and wages
(e) personal loans

6. In Monarchical Absolutism, it is asserted that kings derived their


authority from
(a) the congress
(b) the house of commons
(c) the president of the country
(d) God
(e) the people

7. The state created by Spaniards after colonizing the Philippines is


an example of
(a) social contract theory
(b) force theory
(c) evolutionary theory
(d) monarchical absolutism
(e) feudalism theory

8. A social contract is beneficial to one if


(a) the law is implemented fully
(b) the others adhere to it as well
(c) the lawyers consider it as contract
(d) it lawful
(e) if it is moral

9. Max Weber (pronounced as Max Veba) defined a state as a polity


that maintains monopoly on the legitimate use of violence because
(a) the government is tyrant
(b) the government want to ensurepeacefor the good citizens
and physical control over the insurgents

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(c) the government is ready for war
(d) violence is the weapon against rebellion
(e) the people are naturally ready for violence

10. Quality of life is improved if people are


(a) healthy
(b) educated
(c) having enough choice sets
(d) enjoying freedom of speech
(e) all of those enumerated earlier

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Lesson 2: The Republic

Lesson Outcome:
At the end of this lesson, the learners must have:
1. differentiated the concepts of an ideal city or an ideal state presented in
the discourse of Socrates and his companions about how to achieve a
perfect government as opposed to other kinds of states.

1. To understand the dynamics of political influences and instruments, it is


essential to review, Plato‘s best-known work and world’s most influential
works of philosophy and political theory, the Republic. The Republic contained
Socratic dialogue with Athenians and foreigners about the idea and meaning
of justice to an ideal utopian city. Will being just bring happiness to the just
man? Will he be happier than the unjust man will?

2. Socrates listened to the various definitions of justice from his companions.


Justice is essentially, giving what is owed. Justice is an art that gives good
to friends and evil to enemies. Justice is but the interest of the stronger.
Socrates overturned all these definitions by asserting that it is advantageous
for a man to be just and disadvantageous to be unjust. Socrates needed to
prove that justice is not only desirable, but that it belongs to the highest class
of desirable things.

3. His companions presented advantages of being unjust. The unjust man


could grow wealthy by injustice and does not need to be fearful of Divine
judgement in the afterlife because he can always allocate a portion of his
gains to religious losses, thus rendering him innocent in the eyes of the gods.
Socrates emphasized the need to define justice from the city rather than to
a person. The individual is unable to supply everything he needs and thus
seeks provisions from the city he called the Healthy State.

4. The healthy state needs guardians (now called political leaders) that protect
the city from attacks and the discussion furthered describing what type of
education is appropriate for them in their early years. They concluded that to
ascribe evil to the gods are untrue and hence, should not be taught. What
should be the lifestyle of the guardians? Essentially, the city is assumed to
contain individuals who are happy in the occupations that best suit them. If
the city is happy, the individuals are happy.

5. For the guardians, in the physical education and diet, the emphasis is on
moderation; for both poverty and excessive wealth corrupt them. Without
controlling their education, the city cannot control the future rulers. Socrates

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says that it is pointless to worry over specific laws, like those pertaining
to contracts, since proper education ensures lawful behaviour, and poor
education causes lawlessness (425a425c).

6. In a just human being, reason rules, spirit is reason’s ally, and appetite is
held in check. In this way, the three parts of the soul are organized in such a
way that action is in accordance with knowledge of what the good life is. This
knowledge belongs to reason. In this part of the soul, there is the knowledge
that existence in the body is temporary, that the body and its needs are
distractions, and that the good life is one of “contemplation”. (Henry George
Liddell)

7. Accordingly, Socrates defines justice as “working at that to which he is


naturally best suited”, and “to do one’s own business and not to be a busybody”
(433a–433b) and goes on to say that justice sustains and perfects the other
three cardinal virtues: Temperance, Wisdom, and Courage, and that justice is
the cause and condition of their existence. Socrates does not include justice
as a virtue within the city, suggesting that justice does not exist within the
human soul either, rather it is the result of a “well ordered” soul. A result
of this conception of justice separates people into three types; that of the
soldier, that of the producer, and that of a ruler. If a ruler can create just laws,
and if the warriors can carry out the orders of the rulers, and if the producers
can obey this authority, then a society will be just.Socrates proceeded to
search for wisdom, courage, and temperance in the city, because justice
will be easier to discern in what remains (427e). They find wisdom among
the guardian rulers, courage among the guardian warriors (or auxiliaries),
temperance among all classes of the city in agreeing about who should rule
and who should be ruled. Finally, Socrates defined justice as a state in which
each class performs only its own work, not meddling in the work of the other
classes (433b).

8. The virtues are then sought in the individual soul. Socrates creates an
analogy between the parts of the city and the soul (the city-soul analogy).
He argues that a completely unified soul could not behave in opposite ways
towards the same object, at the same time, and in the same respect (436b).
The guardians, both females and males, should be educated in wisdom,
temperance, justice and courage, gymnastics and physical training. Physical
training is aimed at maintaining good health and physical fitness in order for
them to live preventing illness and weakness and without needing medical
attention to focus their energies in serving the people.

9. Socrates and companions assume at essentially each individuals are


employed in an occupation that best suit them, saying that if the whole city
is happy, so are individuals. Moreover, lifestyles of guardians are that of
moderation because both poverty and excessive wealth lead to corruption.
Ensuring good education, the future leaders’ quality is also ensured.

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Proper education safeguards lawful behaviour while poor education causes
lawlessness. It is pointless to worry about laws when leaders’ behaviour is
corrupt.

10. Guardians are of three classes – guardian rulers must have the wisdom,
guardian warriors must possess courage and temperance should be found
among classes in the city agreeing who should rule and be ruled. For Socrates,
justice means each class performs only its own work and not meddling on the
work of others. Moreover, Socrates also discovered virtues in the city from
the individual soul, the city-soul analogy.

11. He argues that a completely unified soul could not behave in opposite ways
– meaning the city and the individual must possess the same behaviour
toward same objective. A person is wise if he is ruled by the part of the soul
that understands what is good for the part and for the whole. A person is
courageous if his soul preserves pleasures and pains and that the decision
is reached by the rational part; and a person is temperate if the three parts
agree that the rational part should lead. One person cannot be just if he does
not have the other virtues.

12. The ideal city will have harmonious cooperation of all the citizens of the city.
The philosopher-King must be intelligent, reliable and willing to lead a simple
life. Education‘s curriculum is designed to teach learners THE GOOD. Just
as visible objects need to be studied in order to be seen, so must also the
objects of KNOWLDEGE kings need in order to properly lead. A would be
philosopher – king must study arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy.

13. Would be guardians should be educated in military training, gymnastics,


martial arts and warfare and philosophy for five years. Math is taught for ten
years and five years dialectic training. Guardians may spend 15 years as
young leaders, and at 50 years of age, when they are fully aware of the form
of good and are mature already, they are now ready to lead.

14. The four unjust constitutions are timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny
being aristocracy as the best. Aristocracy is the just government, dominated
by wisdom loving system of government, ruled by the philosopher-king. When
the social structure breaks down and civil war is created, timocracy is formed.
Warrior generals, who are the ruling class of property owners, dominate
timocracy. When wealth accumulation replaces honour, the government
formed is oligarchy, where the rich are the ruling class.

15. When the number of poor widens and starts a revolt, democracy is established.
Democracy emphasizes maximum freedom and power is distributed evenly.
This form of government is dominated by desire in an undisciplined and
unrestrained ways. Populism of the democratic government leads to mob
rule, fuelled by fear of oligarchy, which can be exploited by tyrants to take

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power and establish tyranny.

16. In a tyrannical government, the city is enslaved to the tyrant, who uses his
guards to remove the best social elements and individuals from the city to
retain power (since they pose a threat), while leaving the worst. He will also
provoke warfare to consolidate his position as leader. In this way, tyranny is
the most unjust regime of all.

Technical Terms

1. City-soul analogy – Justice is the right order of the soul. The city-soul analogy
refers to Plato‘s argument saying that the just person is happier than the
unjust person and that if the city is composed of just persons, then the just
city is happier than the unjust cities. The city cannot go opposite to what is
good for the soul. (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

2. Timocracy - A timocracy in Aristotle’s Politics is a state where only property


owners may participate in government. The more extreme forms of timocracy,
where power derives entirely from wealth with no regard for social or civic
responsibility, may shift in their form and become a plutocracy where the
wealthy rule. Possession of property is required in order to hold office in
an Timocracy Also, government power and glory motivates the rulers. (Your
Dictionary)

3. Democracy is a system of government that bases its legitimacy on the


participation of the people, uniformly characterized by (1) competitive
elections, (2) the principle of political and legal equality, and (3) a high degree
of individual freedom, or civil liberties. (Dallas Learning Cloud)

4. Aristocracy is a form of government by a relatively small privileged class or


by a minority consisting of those presumed to be best qualified to rule. This
word is derived from the Greek word aristokratia meaning rule of the best.

5. Oligarchy is the rule of the few. There are numerous kinds of oligarchy rule and
Timocracy and Aristrocacy fall under it. One very attractive rule of government
is Geniocracy which is exclusively ruled by the geniuses. The criteria to govern
include excellence in problem solving and creative intelligence. A geniocratic
government usually has faster economic growth and better welfare. Germany
and Canada are two famous countries practising geniocracy. (Buddy Mantra)
Technocracy, a quite similarly defined form is a rule where the leaders are
technical experts as practiced by Peoples Republic of China and of Russia.

6. Tyranny comes from a Greek word tyrannos meaning an absolute ruler who
is unrestrained by law.

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Summary

Socrates and his companions figure out what an ideal city and healthy
state should be and how it evolve. The importance of education and inner values
determines the happy life of a just man who also lives with a community of just
men. The just person is happier than the unjust person is.

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Name: Score:
Curriculum and Section:
Subject:
Unit No.: Date:

Let’s Do This!

I. Group yourself by fives, if not possible work independently.

Conceptualize your perfect village, or your perfect town, or your perfect


city or your ideal country. Identify the variables you wish to be in place in
your village, say day care center, police station, grades school and advanced
schools, etc. You may present your ideas in a drawing or pictures. This is
worth 10 points.

Answer the following as described below.

1. When governments are run by geniuses, that form of government


is known as
(a) democracy
(b) autocracy
(c) aristocracy
(d) oligarchy
(e) geniocracy

2. Oligarchy is defined as the rule of the


(a) people
(b) lawyers
(c) oligarchs
(d) few
(e) king

3. Tyranny is never good for the state because


(a) the ruler is unrestrained by law
(b) the president is corrupt
(c) the king is violent
(d) the leader is immoral
(e) the people are poor

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4. One possible drawback of democracy is its tendency toward
(a) populism
(b) oligarchy
(c) tyranny
(d) technocracy
(e) aristocracy

5. The four unjust constitutions are timocracy, oligarchy, democracy


and tyranny being aristocracy as the best because
(a) Aristocracy is the just government, dominated
by wisdom loving system of government, ruled
by the philosopher-king
(b) oligarchy is the form of government where the rich are
the ruling few
(c) democracy is the rule of government where people have
freedoms but could become abusive if uncontrolled
(d) timocracy is a government formed after conquest

6.
(a) Justice is the right order of the soul
(b) the just person is happier than the unjust person
(c) if the city is composed of just persons, then the just city
is happier than the unjust cities
(d) The city cannot go opposite to what is good for the soul
(e) all of those mentioned earlier, define the city-soul analogy.

7. Who should be educated in military trainings, gymnastics, maths,


dialectics, martial arts, warfare and philosophy in the ideal city?
(a) military generals
(b) righteous kings
(c) would be guardians
(d) oligarchs in preparation for control
(e) members of the parliament

8. In the ideal city, who should be intelligent, reliable and willing to


lead a simple life?
(a) the would be guardians
(b) military generals
(c) the philosopher king
(d) the members of congress
(e) members of the business club

9. How should education curriculum be designed for the ideal state?


(a) designed to emphasize academic freedom and press
autonomy
(b) designed to include vocational and technical education

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(c) designed to focus on military skills and tactics for war
and invasion
(d) designed to teach the good infusing arithmetic geometry,
astronomy and music
(e) designed to teach trading, diplomacy and political values

10. Why is it advantageous for man to be just than to be unjust?


(a) It is because a just man‘s life is pleasurable and
consequently gives him happiness
(b) it is because a just man cannot separate himself from
his own soul
(c) it is because injustice creates reaction that destroys
man‘s peaceful sleep
(d) it is because justice will lead man to heaven
in the after life
(e) it is because man cannot go against himself

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Lesson 3: Great Political Theories

Lesson Outcome:
At the end of this lesson, learners must have:
1. differentiated great political theories established as alternative standards
of operations in a society and polity and explained the subtle meanings
underlying the thought.

I will present four political theories only for you to carry as you go through
life. These are the ideas on The Social Contract, Romanticism and Idealism,
Utilitarianism and Marxism. I hope these concepts will make you more equipped in
facing deals and ordeals in the societies you circulate now and in years ahead.

1. The Social Contract presents the reconciliation of the freedom of the individual
with the authority of the state. It appears to be like the constitution of the land.
In particular, it says.

Each of us puts his person and all his power in common, under
the supreme direction of the general will and in our corporate
capacity; we receive each member as an indivisible part of
the whole.

The contract presupposes alienation of each associate, together with all


his rights to the whole community. For, as one gives himself absolutely, the
conditions are the same for all; and this being so, no one has any interest in
making them burdensome to others. No one has anything more to demand for
if individuals retained certain rights, as there would be no common superior
to decide between them and the public, each, being on one point, his own
judge would ask to so on all, the state of nature would thus continue and the
association would necessary become inoperative and tyrannical.

2. Lastly, each man, in giving himself to all, gives himself to nobody, and as
there is no associate over whom he does not acquire the same rights as he
yields others over himself, he gains an equivalent for everything he loses
and an increase of force for the preservation of what he has. in simple words,
social contract is an agreement between the individual and the society and or
the government about upholding certain rights and abiding on certain laws in
order to ensure smooth relationship dynamics of citizens in a city or a country.

3. Romanticism and Idealism theory is a philosophical movement during the Age


of Enlightenment that emphasizes emotional self-awareness as a necessary
precondition to improving society and bettering the human condition. Some

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of the main characteristics of Romantic literature include a focus on the writer
or narrator’s emotions and inner world; celebration of nature, beauty, and
imagination; rejection of industrialization, organized religion, rationalism, and
social convention; idealization of women, children, and rural life. Imagination,
emotion and freedom are the focal points of romanticism.

4. One key theme of the romantic period is revolution, democracy, and


republicanism. The essential political thinking of the period is liberty, equality
and brotherhood as a reaction against aristocratic social and political norms
of the Age of Enlightenment and of the scientific rationalization of nature.
While age of enlightenment or the age of reason dominates intellectual
discourse in Europe during 17th and 18th centuries, an emerging thought
had convinced many that the truest basis for political power was the consent
of the governed.

5. By the evolution of time, concepts of democracy and republicanism developed.


Republic form of government is a state ruled by representatives of the citizen
body. Citizens do not govern the state themselves but through representatives.
Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an
equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows people
to participate equally— either directly or through elected representatives—in
the proposal, development, and creation of laws. Though they may not be
identical, there are areas they both share the same such as election, the
current economic system and a particular social structure. The Venn diagram
below presents such condition.

Democracy Republic
Vote for
Majority Based change Constitution
decisions based decisions
Economic
National System Individual
Sovereignty Sovereignty
Social
No constraint on Structure Constraints the
the Government Government

Figure 1

6. Another key theme is the Sublime and the Transcendence. Many had
become fascinated with the ideal of sublime in physical, moral, intellectual,
metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual greatness. Such greatness is beyond
measure and sublimity is on the perception of the perceiver, mind and
imagination. The briefest definition of sublimity is the presence of exquisite

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and admirable quality of beauty. Edmund Burke disputes such. He says there
are sublime experiences that bring terror, like seeing tsunami, or walking in
the edge of a cliff etc.

7. Absorbed by the personal genius of man, it was believed that this man got
the inspiration from tutelary spirits teaching him to work in certain set of
acceptable and admirable behaviour. This concept of some experiences of
inspiration symbolizes the truth of external realm called the transcendence.
The power of the imagination, genius, and the source of inspiration is real.

8. Quotes of Romanticism by William Wordsworth- the man who introduced


Romanticism.

a. Wisdom is near when we stoop than when we soar.


b. Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its
origin from emotion, recollected in tranquillity.
c. Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.
d. With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony and the deep
power of joy, we see into the life of things.
e. Getting and spending, we lay waste of powers.
f. Fill your paper with the breathing of your heart.
g. The best portion of good man‘s life -his little, nameless,
unremembered acts of kindness and love

9. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that states that the best action is the
one that maximizes utility. Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism,
described utility as the sum of all pleasure that results from an action, minus
the suffering of anyone involved in the action. Jeremy Bentham (1748—
1832) Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher and political radical. He
is primarily known today for his moral philosophy, especially his principle of
utilitarianism, which evaluates actions based upon their consequences.

10. Utilitarianism is one of the best known and most influential moral theories.
Utilitarians believe that the purpose of morality is to make life better by
increasing the amount of good things (such as pleasure and happiness)
in the world and decreasing the amount of bad things (such as pain and
unhappiness). The goal of utilitarian ethics is to promote the greatest happiness
for the greatest number. Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher, was the
founder of utilitarianism; John Stuart Mill was its best-known defender.

11. Utilitarianism is based on the Greatest Happiness Principle, which states that
actions are considered moral when they promote utility and immoral when
they promote the reverse. Utility, itself, is, defined by Mill as happiness with
the absence of pain.

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12. There are three principles that served as the basic axioms of utilitarianism.
a. Pleasure or happiness Is the only thing that truly has intrinsic value.
b. Actions are right insofar as they promote happiness, wrong insofar
as they produce unhappiness.
c. Everyone’s Happiness Counts Equally.

13. Quotes on Utilitarianism


a. Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often, man forgets the
flowers at his feet.
b. The power of the lawyer is in the uncertainty of the law.
c. It is the greatest good to the greatest number of people, which is
the measure of right and wrong.
d. Secrecy, being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the
system of a regular government.
e. All punishment is mischief; all punishment in itself is evil.
f. Tyranny and anarchy are never far apart.
g. Nature has placed humankind under the governance of two
sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point
out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.

14. Marxist social and political thought encompasses the Marxist class conflict
and Marxian economics. Together with Friedrich Engels, he wrote The
Communist Manifesto that lays the theory of class struggle and revolution.
Marx presented the flaws of capitalism in his book Das Kapital and argued
that capitalism shall naturally vanish because of the chaotic nature of free
market and surplus of labour.
15. Marx portrayed capitalist society as composing of the bourgeoisie and
the proletariat, i.e. the ones controlling the means of production and the
workers that transform raw commodities to valuable economic goods. The
bourgeoisie‘s power to control capital allows them to limit workers‘ ability
to produce and obtain what they need to survive. Capitalism is all about
commodities bought and sold, reducing the value of labour as another kind
of commodity for sale, like cars, wine, cloth and the like making labourers
weak in the capitalist economic system.

16. One very influential concept introduced in Marxist political and economic
thought is the labour surplus theory. This measures the difference between
wages paid to the workers and the price of goods sold, which the workers
previously manufactured. For example, if a worker who is making wall clocks
is given a daily wage of $300 and his productivity rate is 8 clocks per day,
which clock is sold for $300 each and that the market absorbs all 8 clocks
daily, then the value of labour of the worker is reduced to only one clock and
the revenue from the remaining clocks sold belongs to the capitalists. The
$2100 difference is called the surplus value of labour that is not enjoyed by
the workers.

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17. To maintain their position of power and privilege, the bourgeoisie employ social
institutions as tools and weapons against the proletariat. The government
enforces the will of the bourgeoisie by physical coercion to enforce the
laws and private property rights to the means of production. The media and
academics, or intelligentsia, produce propaganda to suppress awareness of
class relations among the proletariat and rationalize the capitalist system.
Organized religion provides a similar function to convince the proletariat to
accept and submit to their own exploitation based on fictional divine sanction,
which Marx called “the opium of the masses.” The banking and financial
system facilitates the consolidation of capitalist ownership of the means of
production, ensnares the workers with predatory debt, and engineers regular
financial crises and recessions to ensure a sufficient supply of unemployed
labour in order to undermine workers‘ bargaining power. (Investopedia)

18. Quotes of Karl Marx

a. Surround yourself with people who make you happy, people who
make you laugh, who help you when you‘re in need, people who
genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in your life.
Everyone else is just passing through.
b. The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways.
The point, however, is to change it.
c. Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of
real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the
sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and
the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
d. The less you eat, drink and read books; the less you go to the
theatre, the dance hall, the public house; the less you think, love,
theorize, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save-the greater
becomes your treasure which neither moths nor dust will devour-
your capital. The less you are, the more you have; the less you
express your own life, the greater is your alienated life-the greater
is the store of your estranged being.
e. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The
proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a
world to win. Workingmen of all countries unite!
f. I am nothing but I must be everything.
g. If anything is certain, it is that I myself am not a Marxist.
h. If money is the bond binding me to human life, binding society to
me, connecting me with nature and man, is not money the bond of
all bonds? Can it not dissolve and bind all ties? Is it not, therefore,
also the universal agent of separation?
i. In proportion therefore, as the repulsiveness of the work increases,
the wage decreases

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Summary

The Political Thoughts presented are Social Contract, Utilitarianism,


Romanticism and Marxist Ideal Society. Quotes from the forerunners of the thought
are takeaways as you choose the life of your own.

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Name: Score:
Curriculum and Section:
Subject:
Unit No.: Date:

Let’s Do This!

I. Work by threes, if not possible work independently. (10 points)

Try to depict the kinds of societies presented in the various political


theories in a drawing. You may put a few paragraphs for explanation of the
work you do.

Answer in five lines only for five full points each number.

1. Why do you think money separates us when it bonds us?


2. What is the problem of capitalism presented by Marx?
3. If actions are within our control, why is happiness not derived from
actions?
4. What will happen if the parties having the social contract betray one
another? How would social contract work?
5. What is the problem in the age of enlightenment that pushes the
emergence of romanticism thought?

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Lesson 4. Global Governance and Interstate System

Lesson Outcome:
At the end of this lesson, the learners must have:
1. explained how the world operates in a highly differentiated sovereignties
of countries.

1. World Government is an idea where every country unites under one political
authority, but this has not happened yet. Proponents reasoned that such
political organization will solve problems on war, production of weapon for
mass destruction, poverty and inequality as well as environmental decay. The
more modern objective is to design global institutions that move humanity
world federalism or cosmopolitan democracy. (Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy). Opposing this move suggests that this is infeasible, undesirable
and totally unnecessary.

2. However, it is no longer uncommon to hear words like World Bank, World


Health Organization, International Monetary Fund, World Food Programme
etc. that give us the concept of some global polity. The World Bank is an
international organization designed to help fight poverty by providing financing
and research advice to development projects of the poorer economies.

3. If global world sounds infeasible, global economy is far from different. When
governments control their own specific economies, big banks and large
companies fund these governments. In effect, these large financial institutions
and corporations dominate and control global economies (Burrows). Less
than one per cent of the companies 40% of the entire business ownership
network in the global economy. This organization controls the financial flows
going in and coming out the economies.

4. However, other factors certainly affect the movements in global economies.


If there is an increase in the price of oil due to some quantity controls,
essentially, the cost of production and shipping costs increases. This
eventually is translated as price hikes for goods bought in from store shelves.
The multiplier effect continues by driving off purchasing power of earning
individuals, which, if uncontrolled, leads to increasing number of families
under poverty line. The higher the prices, the more likely it is to create larger
disparities in incomes.

5. Economic instabilities will generate social problems. More poor people


will participate in many underground illegal activities like drug trafficking,

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prostitution, and burglary. Police matters become one of the hit news in
each morning headlines and some dirty politicians may take advantage of
the poor by hiring them as internet trolls against their opponents. Another
social could come out from this trolling game. It could create social upheavals
and collective disruptions making the ordinary citizen and less informed
individuals confused.

6. Thus, in order to maintain social and economic order, countries try to


help one another through trade and international organizations aiming
at achieving a common goal of peace, harmony, economic growth and
technological advancements, social progress and cultural development. The
six international organizations we need to know include The United Nations,
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU), World
Trade Organization, the Group of Twenty (G20) and International Criminal
Court (ICC). Within our reach is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

7. The UN’s mission is to promote international peace and stability, human


rights and economic development. Specialized agencies under it are UNICEF
(United Nations for Children‘s Fund), UNESCO (United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization), the World Bank, and the World Health
Organization (WHO). (Six Essential International Organizations You Need to
Know)

8. NATO’s mission is to safeguard its member‘s freedom and security through


both political and military means. Members of NATO are primarily countries in
North America and Europe including Turkey. EU’s mission is to help member
countries cooperate on economic, political and security matters. WTO, on
the other hand, has a mission to manage the rules of international trade and
to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of all members via negotiations
and trade disputes settlement. The G20 convenes officials from the largest
economies both the wealthiest economies and developing to jointly address
global concerns and to coordinate economic policies.

Summary

Countries organize themselves into organizations and regions to achieve a


common goal of subsistence, growth, progress in peace and harmony.

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Name: Score:
Curriculum and Section:
Subject:
Unit No.: Date:

Let’s Do This!

I. Individual work for 10 full points.

In a three page paper, describe in what way big companies and


international organizations have helped the Philippine economy.

Argue how the ASEAN region contributed to the growth of Philippine


society. Limit your answers in three paragraphs, with seven lines in a
each paragraph. Use actual data to support your arguments. 10 points

I hope I have helped a little. Thank you for this opportunity. I am glad
to have connected with you.

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