PPG

Defining Politics

  • Politics refers to activities through which people establish, maintain, and amend rules governing their lives.

  • It involves the dynamics of conflict, cooperation, and competition among differing interests and opinions.

  • The core of politics often revolves around resolving conflicts through collective action.

wCharacteristics of Politics

  • According to Shieveley (2013):

    1. Politics always entails collective decision-making for a group.

    2. Decision-making is performed by certain group members exercising power over others.

Approaches to the Study of Politics

  • Political Philosophy:

    • Aims to define what politics should be.

    • Normative, prescriptive, and ethical in nature.

  • Political Science:

    • Focuses on describing political phenomena without ethical judgments.

    • Employs empirical methods for objective analysis.

Basic Concepts of Politics

  1. Order:

    • Central to politics, depicting the components of human society, including community, government, and state.

  2. Power:

    • The primary source of authority for the government, determining its ability to rule.

  3. Justice:

    • Concerned with legalizing and penalizing abuse of political power, ensuring protection and fulfilling societal needs.

Governance

  • Derives from the Latin "gubernare" and Greek "kubernaein," meaning to steer.

Processes and Actors of Government

  1. Decision Making:

    • Involves the method by which individuals or groups, guided by socio-political structures, make choices addressing communal and individual needs.

  2. Implementation:

    • The process following decision-making that executes the chosen course of action.

  3. Actors:

    • Groups or institutions active in decision-making and implementation processes.

  4. Structure:

    • Organizations or frameworks guiding decision-making operations and facilitating actor participation.

Indicators of Good Governance

  1. Participation:

    • Involving stakeholders in decision-making.

  2. Rule of Law:

    • Legal standards must be upheld.

Three Branches of Government

  1. Executive Branch:

    • Charged with the administration of the country's laws and policies.

    • Includes the President and Cabinet members.

  2. Legislative Branch:

    • Responsible for law-making.

    • Composed of the Senate and House of Representatives.

  3. Judicial Branch:

    • Ensures the rule of law through the court system.

    • Includes the Supreme Court and other lower courts.

Governance Terms

  • Term Limits for the Executive Branch:

    • President serves a six-year term, cannot run again if they served four years.

  • Qualifications for President and Vice President:

    • Natural-born citizen, registered voter, literate, at least 40 years old, and a 10-year resident.

Legislative Process

  • Bills:

    • Proposed laws passing both legislative houses and Presidential approval.

    • Veto powers lie with the President, with potential for the House to override.

  • Resolutions:

    • Express principles and sentiments of Congress divided into joint, concurrent, and simple types.

Power Analysis

  • Definition of Power:

    • The ability to achieve desired outcomes.

Sources of Power

  • Reward, Coercive, Process, Information, Representative, and Legitimate Power (Heywood 2007).

  • Types of power include individual and organizational power.

Authority and the State

  • Authority:

    • A recognized legitimate power.

  • State:

    • A defined political community with governance power.

  • Nation:

    • A territory with a unified governance structure.

Concept of a State

  • A political entity with defined territory and an organized authority to enforce laws without external consent.

The Archipelagic Principle of Territory

  • Definitions and distinctions of internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zones, exclusive economic zones, and continental shelf.

Sovereignty

  • Defined as the supreme authority within territorial boundaries, differentiated into internal and external sovereignty.

Decentralization and Local Government

  • Local Autonomy: Self-governance at local levels.

  • Forms of Decentralization:

    • Include devolution for power transfer from national to local governments.

Organization of Regular Courts

  • Comprises various court types from the Supreme Court to local trial courts and specialized courts.

Types of Law

  • Include jurisprudence, constitution, statute, treaties, and ordinances.

Local Government Units (LGUs)

  • Organized into 80 Provinces, 143 Cities, 1,491 Municipalities, and 42,028 Barangays.