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FUNCTION OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

to discover the principles that

should be adhered to in publicaffairs

to study the operations of

government in order todemonstrate what is good, tocriticize what is bad orinefficient, and to suggestimprovements

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OFPOLITICAL SCIENCE

useful to constitution-makers,

legislators, executives and judgeswho need models or norms thatcan be applied to immediatesituations

useful to individuals who seek to

understand the state in whichthey live

GOALS IN THE STUDY OFPOLITICAL SCIENCE COURSES

Education for Citizenship

Essential parts of liberal

education Knowledge and understanding of

government

Government, political organizationcomprising the individuals andinstitutions authorized to formulatepublic policies and conduct affairs ofstate.

State -A community of persons, more orless numerous, permanently occupying

a fixed territory and possessed of anindependent government organised forpolitical ends to which the great body ofinhabitants render habitual obedience.

ELEMENTS OF STATE

1. PEOPLE inhabitants of the state

Community of persons

sufficient in no. & capable ofmaintaining the continuedexistence of the community &held together by a commonbond of law

Doesnt matter if they possess

diverse racial, cultural oreconomic interests

2. GOVERNMENTa. The agency or instrumentality,

through which the will of the stateis formulated, expressed andrealized.

b. the institution or aggregate ofinstitutions by which anindependent society makes andcarries out those rules of actionwhich are necessary to enablemen to live in a social State, orwhich are imposed upon thepeople forming that society bythose who possess the power orauthority of prescribing them.

3. TERRITORY-fixed portion of the

surface of the earth, inhabited by

the people of the state. Theterritory must not be too small asto be unable to provide for theneeds of the people; nor should itbe too large as to be difficult toadminister. The territory canextend to over a vast expanse,

like China or Russia, or be assmall as Abu Dhabi.

COMPONENTS OF TERRITORY

a. terrestrial domain-the land massmaritime or fluvial domain-inlandand external waters aerialdomain- the air space above theland and water.

4. SOVEREIGNTY

means the supreme,

uncontrollable power, theabsolute right to govern.

The supreme will of the State, the

power to make laws, and enforcethem by all the means of coercionit cares to employ.

Legal sovereignty: power to

adapt/alter the constitution orsupreme power to make laws vs.Political sovereignty: sum total ofall the influences in a state, legal& non-legal w/c determine thecourse of law

THEORIES OF THE ORIGIN OFSTATE

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1. Voluntaristic theories said thatat some point in their history,certain peoples spontaneouslyrationally and voluntarily gave uptheir individual sovereignties andunited with other communities toform a larger political unit

deserving to be called a state.

a. "automatic" theory. Accordingto this theory, the invention ofagriculture automatically broughtinto being a surplus of food,enabling some individuals todivorce themselves from foodproduction and to becomepotters, weavers, smiths,

masons, and so on, thus creatingan extensive division of labor.

2. Coercive TheoriesA closeexamination of history indicatesthat only a coercive theory canaccount for the rise of the state.Force and not enlightened self-interest. is the mechanism bywhich political evolution has led.

step by step, from autonomousvillages to the state.

3. Social contract theory providesthe rationale behind thehistorically important notion thatlegitimate state authority must bederived from the consent of thegoverned.

STATE, AS DISTINGUISHED FROM

NATION

The state pertains to a legal concept,while the nation refers to a racial orethnic concept.

AS DISTINGUISHED FROM

GOVERNMENT

The government is only an element ofthe state. The government is an agent,and the State is the principal. Thegovernment externalizes the will of theState.

FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT

The government performs two functions

the constituent and the ministrant.

1. CONSTITUENT-constitute thebonds of society. Constituentfunctions consist of fixing of legalrelations between husband and

wife, parents and children;keeping of order and providingprotection from violence;regulation of the holding,transmission and interchange ofproperty; determination ofliabilities for debt or crime;determination of contractualrights between individuals;definition and punishment ofcrimes, administration of justicein civil cases; administration of

political duties, privileges, andrelations of citizens, and dealingsof the state with foreign powers,preservation of state fromexternal dangers, and theadvancement of internationalinterests.

2. MINISTRANT functions-are thosetaken to advance the generalinterests of societysuch aspublic works, public charity,regulation of trade and industry.

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT: DE Jureand De Facto governments

A de jure government has rightful title

but no power or control, because it mayhave been withdrawn or it has not yetactually entered into exercise. On theother hand, a de facto government is agovernment of factit actually exercisespower or control, but has no legal title.

WHAT IS A CONSTITUTION?

A Constitution is the fundamental

organic law of a State whichcontains the principles on whichthe government is founded andregulates the division andexercise of sovereign powers.

A body of rules and maxims in

accordance with which thepowers of sovereignty arehabitually exercised.

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THE SUPREMACY OF THECONSTITUTION

The Constitution is the most basic andmost paramount law to which all other

laws must conform and to which allpersons including the higher officials ofthe land must defer. No act shall bevalid however noble its intentions if it isin conflict with the Constitution. TheConstitution must reign supreme.

IMPORTANCE, NATURE ANDPURPOSE OF CONSTITUTION

1. The people exercise d control oftheir government primarilythrough the Constitution whichprotects from unjust exercise ofgovernmental power and throughperiodic elections by means ofwhich they choose the officers torepresent them.

2. A constitution is the supreme orfundamental law creating the

government having been enactedby the people themselves.

3. The purpose of the constitution isto draw framework or generaloutline of the system of thegovernment and to specific therespective powers and functionsof the various branches ofgovernment comprising thisframework.

KINDS/CLASSIFICATION ofCONSTITUTION

As to their origin and history

Conventional or enacted one

which is enacted by a constituentassembly or granted by a

monarch to his subjects Cumulative or evolved-one

which is the product of growth ora long period of developmentoriginating in customs, traditions,judicial decisions rather than fromdeliberate and formal enactment

As to their form:

Written-one which has been

given definite written form at aparticular time usually by aspecially constituted authoritycalled constitutional convention

Unwritten-one which is entirely

the product of politicalevolution ,consisting largely of amass of customs, usages andjudicial decisions together with asmaller body of statutoryenactments of a fundamentalcharacter, usually bearingdifferent dates

As to manner of amending them:

Rigid or inelastic-one regarded

as a document of a specialsanctity which cannot beamended or altered except bysome special machinery more

cumbrous than the ordinarylegislative process.

Flexible or elastic-one which

possess no higher legal authoritythan ordinary laws and whichmay be altered in the same wayas other laws.

CONSTIUTUTION DISTINGUISHEDFORM STATUTE

1. A constitution is a law give \ndirectly by the people while astatute is enacted by thepeoples representative

2. A constitution is thefundamental law of the state

on which all other laws orstatute are based

BASIC PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING

OUR CONSTITUTION

Recognition of the

Almighty God

Sovereignity of the people

Supremacy of civilian

authority over the military

Separation of Church and

State

Guarantee of human rights

Government through

suffrage

Separation of powers

Independence of the

judiciary

Rule of the majority

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Government of laws and

not of men