An Introduction

Political Science
- Systematic study of the state
and government.
“Political” – Greek word polis
meaning city / sovereign state

“Science” – Latin word scire meaning

“to know”
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 What is Political Science?
 It has a formal object, basic
knowledge & understanding of the
state and of the principles and ideals
which underlie its organization and
activities.
 It is primarily concerned with the
association of human beings into a
“body politic”, or a political community
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 Itdeals with those relations among
men and groups which are subject
to control by the state, with
relations of men and groups to the
state itself and with the relations of
state to the other state.

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 Scope of Political Science
 Political Theory – it relates to the origin,
form, behavior, and purposes of the state.
 Public Law – It includes the (a)
organization of governments, (b) the
limitations upon government authority, (c)
the powers and duties of the
governmental offices and officers & (d) the
obligations of the state to another.

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 Public Administration – It focused
on the methods and techniques
used in the actual management of
the state affairs by executive,
legislative, and judicial branches of
government.

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 Interrelationship with other
Branches of Learning
 History – the “history is past politics and
politics present history”
 Economics – concerned with the fact that
economic conditions affect the
organization, development and activities of
the state.
 Geography –Geopolitics (concerned with
the study of the physical factors such as
population
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 Sociology and Anthropology –
Study of the society in a whole and
mankind in relation to physical, social
and cultural development.
 Psychology – promotes studies of
the mental and emotional processes
motivating the political behavior of
individuals and groups
 Philosophy – underlying the concepts
and framing the constitutions and laws
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 Statistics and Logic – employs
scientific methods in gathering and
evaluating data & drawing in
conclusion.
 Jurisprudence – concerned with
the analysis of existing legal
systems and also with the ethical,
historical, sociological and
psychological foundations of law.

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 Function & Importance of
Political Science
 To discover the principles that should
be adhered to in public affairs and to
study the operations of government in
order to demonstrate what is good, to
criticize what is bad or inefficient & to
suggest improvements

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 Itsfindings and conclusions may be of
immense practical use to constitution-
makers, legislator, executives, and
judges who need models or norms that
can be applied to immediate situations.
 It deals with the problems of social
welfare, governmental economic
programs, international cooperation
and others that are urgent concern to
public officials and to private citizens.
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 Goals in the Study of Political
Science Courses
 Education for citizenship
 Essential parts of liberal
education
 Knowledge and understanding of
government

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 Why is it necessary to study the
Constitution?

 Education for citizenship

 Essential part of liberal

education

 Knowledge and understanding

of government
State – a community of persons more or less
numerous permanently occupying a definite
portion of territory, having a government of
its own to which the great body of inhabitants
renders obedience, and and enjoying freedom
from external control
1. People – mass of population living
within the state
2. Territory – fixed portion of the
surface of the earth inhabited by
the people of the state
3. Government – agency through which the will
of the state is formulated, expressed and
carried out
4. Sovereignty – the supreme power of the
state to command and enforce obedience

2 Manifestations

• External sovereignty
• Internal sovereignty
1. Divine Right Theory – holds that
the state is of divine
creation and the ruler is
ordained by God to govern
the people
2. Necessity or force theory –
maintains that states
must have been created
through force
3. Paternalistic theory –
attributes the origin
of states to the
enlargement of the
family
4. Social Contract theory – asserts
that the early states must
have been formed by
deliberate and voluntary
compact among people to
form a government of their
own
 Vatican – smallest state in terms
of population with estimated 1000
citizens and ruled by the Pope.
 China – the largest state in point
of population more than 1B.

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 Canada – the biggest state
having an area of 3,852,000
square miles
 Vatican – smallest state in point
of territory; it would fit the Rizal
Park in Manila
 Philippines – total land area of
about 115,707 sq. miles or
299,681 sq. km. 24
 Internal – the power of the state
to rule within its territory
 External – the freedom of the
state to carry out its activities
without subjection to or control by
other states.
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State distinguished from Nation
 The state is a political concept while
nation is an ethnic concept.
 A state is not subject to external
control while a nation may or may not
be independent of external control.
 A single state may consist of one or
more nations and vice-versa
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 State distinguished from
Government
 The government is only the
agency through which the state
expresses its will.
 A state cannot exist without a
government, but it is possible to
have a government without a
state
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 Purpose of Government
 It is necessary for the protection
of society and its members.
 To do things which by their very
nature, it is better equipped to
administer public welfare than a
private individual or group of
individuals.
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 Forms of Government
 As to number of persons exercising
sovereign powers
 As to extent of powers exercised by
the central or national government
 As to relationship between the
executive and the legislative
branches of the government
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 Monarchy – the supreme authority
is in the hands of a single person
without regards the election
 Aristocracy – Political power is
exercised by a few privileged class
such as oligarchy
 Democracy – political power is
exercised by a majority of the
people
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 Monarchy
 Absolute Monarchy – the ruler
rules by divine right
 Limited Monarchy – the ruler
rules in accordance with a
constitution

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 Democracy
 Direct or pure democracy – the will of
the state is formulated directly and
immediately through the people in a
mass meeting or primary assembly
 Indirect, Representative or
Republican Democracy - through the
agency of a relatively small and select
body of persons chosen by the people.
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 Unitary Government - the control of
the national and local affairs is
exercised by the central or national
government
 Federal Government – the power of
the government are divided between
two sets of organs, one for national
affairs and local affairs.

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 Parliamentary Government – The
state confers upon the legislature
the power to terminate the tenure of
office of the real executive
 Presidential Government – The
state makes the executive
constitutionally independent of the
legislature as regards his tenure and
to a large extent as regards his
policies and acts. 34
 Preamble
 Derived from the Latin
preambulare which means “to
walk”.
 An introduction to the main
subject
 Prologue of the Constitution

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 Object and Value
 Set
down origin and purposes of the
constitution
 It tells us who are the authors of the
Constitution and for whom it has been
promulgated
 It states the general purposes which are
intended to be achieved by the
constitution and the government
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 May serve as an aid in its
interpretation
- An aid in determining the meaning
of vague or ambiguous provisions
of the Constitution proper

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 Source of Constitution
Authority
 The Filipino People
- Signify their oneness and solidarity and
it’s different from the people of the
Philippines
A Sovereign People
- The use of pronouns we and our has also
been retained instead of the impersonal
third person approach
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