Philippine Politics & Governance – Introduction to Politics & Governance

By the end of the lesson, learners should be able to:
- Explain the concept and inter-relationship of politics and governance.
- Understand the importance of politics, governance, and government.

“Politics” = process that decides distribution of power & resources.
Focuses on how people influence decision-making, execution of projects/programs.
In Political Science: studies human behaviour in relation to state activities (creation, maintenance, amendment of norms/rules).

Order
- Central concept: reveals how human society’s components are organised.
- Exists as formally united groups w/ distinct roles & goals.
Power
- Capacity to control, restrict, or compel actions.
- Main source of governmental authority.
Justice
- Ensures legality & fairness in exercise/penalisation of power.

Community
- Association of individuals w/ shared identity, ideology, skills, or interests.
- Examples: senior-citizen clubs, professional associations.
Government
- Higher-level order tasked with maintaining & perpetuating the community.
- Executes the will of the state within agreed laws, rules, customs.
State
- Largest social order & highest form of human association.
- Cannot be reduced to any single institution.
- Composed of: population, territory, government, sovereignty.

Everyday illustration: group-project leader assigning tasks.
Influence scales upward in government → enormous responsibility/effect on society.

Coercive Power – relies on threats, punishment, force.
Reward Power – ability to dispense benefits, incentives.
Expert Power – derives from specialised knowledge/skill (e.g., geodetic engineer advising on earthquake evacuation).
Legitimate Power – rooted in formal position, role, or duties.
Referent Power – attraction/charisma that draws followers (e.g., social media “influencers”).

Charismatic Authority – based on extraordinary personal qualities.
Traditional Authority – grounded in long-standing customs, social ties (e.g., royalty).
Legal–Rational Authority – anchored in codified laws & a bureaucratic hierarchy.

In the Philippines, people are the sovereign holders of power.
Bill of Rights (Article III, 1987 Constitution): guarantees civil & political liberties.
- Rights (e.g., free speech) come with responsibilities (e.g., avoiding misinformation, hate speech).
Responsible citizenship = prerequisite for effective, beneficial exercise of power.

Suffrage – right to vote & run for office.
Referendum – citizens vote directly on proposed law/policy (e.g., Jan\,2019 Bangsamoro Organic Law vote).
Plebiscite – approves constitutional changes (proposed federalism debate 2018 lacked support).
Initiative – citizens propose constitutional amendments or legislation (see Republic Act 6735).
People Power / Revolt – extra-institutional collective action; can be violent (historically) or peaceful (e.g., Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent struggle 1920s; Philippine EDSA Revolution 1986).

Abuse of Authority – using official power for illegal acts or beyond mandate (e.g., warrant-less house search by police).
Abuse of Discretion – willful disregard of rules/procedure (e.g., nepotistic hiring circumventing central-office rules).
Abuse of Power / Misconduct – unlawful actions in office (e.g., workplace bullying, personal errands for staff).
Graft – diverting public funds for personal gain.
Corruption – exploiting influence for private interest; patterns include patronage, nepotism, bribery, influence-peddling, procurement fraud, etc.

Office of the Ombudsman – investigates, suspends, prosecutes officials.
Sandiganbayan – specialised anti-graft court.
Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) – recovers ill-gotten wealth; crafts corruption safeguards.
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) – probes civil/political-rights violations, police & military abuses.
Commission on Audit (COA) – audits expenditures; disallows improper spending (e.g., personal use of official vehicles).
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee – investigates wrongdoing for legislative remedies (e.g., GCTA law abuse cases).

Justice = process of legalising & penalising abuse.
Good governance demands an impartial, efficient justice system.
- If biased in favour of wealthy/influential, or plagued by delay, governance & common good suffer.

Political Philosophy (Normative/Traditional)
- Seeks the essence or ultimate truths about politics.
- Examines classical thinkers: Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, Machiavelli, etc.
Political Science (Empirical/Social-Science)
- Dispassionate, objective description & analysis.
- Minimises abstract & normative concerns; relies on observation, data.

State – organised political community under a government.
Population – human component of the state.
Territory – defined geographic area incl. land, natural resources, airspace.
Government – instrument for expressing & implementing state will.
Sovereignty – supreme self-governing authority.
Legitimacy – recognised right to rule; acknowledged by citizens & international actors.
Ideology – system of ideas guiding individuals, groups, institutions.
- Political Ideology – governmental principles applied to state activity (e.g., liberalism, socialism).

Balance between power and responsibility underpins stable governance.
Civic education on accountability fosters resilient democratic institutions.
Transparent investigative bodies + vigilant citizenry = safeguards against graft/corruption.

EDSA 1986 illustrates non-violent people power shaping governance.
Bangsamoro referendum 2019 shows direct democracy in conflict resolution.
Global parallels: Gandhi’s independence movement; Weber’s authority types observable in monarchies, charismatic populists, modern bureaucracies.

Lesson 2 will focus on Governance (structures, processes, and indicators of effectiveness).