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Comparative Government and Politics: (Basic Concepts)

This document introduces key concepts in comparative government and politics. It defines politics, governments, and political systems. It also defines key terms like authority, power, and sovereignty. It discusses the basic elements that make up a state: a people, a territory, and a government. It classifies different forms of government according to the number of rulers, the division of powers between central and local governments, and the relationship between executive and legislative branches. The politics of the Philippines takes place in a presidential, representative, and democratic republic with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

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40 views

Comparative Government and Politics: (Basic Concepts)

This document introduces key concepts in comparative government and politics. It defines politics, governments, and political systems. It also defines key terms like authority, power, and sovereignty. It discusses the basic elements that make up a state: a people, a territory, and a government. It classifies different forms of government according to the number of rulers, the division of powers between central and local governments, and the relationship between executive and legislative branches. The politics of the Philippines takes place in a presidential, representative, and democratic republic with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

Uploaded by

jessicadimailig
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Comparative Government and

Politics

INTRODUCTION
(Basic Concepts)
Key Terms

• POLITICS – having to do with human


decisions
» Political Science – is the study of human
decisions

• GOVERNMENTS - organizations of
individuals empowered to make decisions
on behalf of a community
• It is the activity by which differing
interests within a given unit of rule are
conciliated by giving them a share in
power in proportion to their importance
to the welfare and survival of the whole
community.
GOVERNMENT

4 Meanings of “Government”:
• The process of governing.
• A condition of ordered rule.
• The people who govern.
• The mode of governance.
It is practically impossible to talk about politics
without talking about government.

• Process = “Governance”
• Condition = The state of affairs wherein
governance can be found.
• People = Executive, Legislature,
Bureaucrats, etc.
• Mode = Systems of government: American
government, the British system, government
in the Philippines, etc.
Key Terms
• POLITICAL SYSTEM - a set of institutions,
such as parliaments, bureaucracies, courts,
that formulates and implements the collective
goals of a society or of groups within it.

• GOVERNMENT SYSTEM – state


governance, part of political system
Key Terms

• AUTHORITY - the ability to influence


somebody to do something that he/she
would not have done
• POWER - refers to a claim of legitimacy,
the justification and right to exercise
that power
• SOVEREIGNTY - is the quality of having
supreme, independent authority over a
territory
Concepts of State
State
A community of persons more or less
numerous, permanently occupying a
definite portion of territory, having a
government of their own to which the
great body of inhabitants render obedience
and enjoying freedom from external
control.
Elements of State
a) People: the mass of population living
within the state

b) Territory: it includes not only the land


over which the jurisdiction of the state
extends but also the rivers and lakes
therein, a certain area of the sea which
abuts upon its coasts and the air space
above it.
c. Government

It refers to the agency through which the will of


the state is formulated, expressed and carried
out.

Forms of government may be classified:


a. according to the number of persons exercising
authority (ex. monarchy, aristocracy and
democracy);
b. extent of powers exercised by central or
national government (ex. unitary or federal);
c. relationship between executive and legislative
branches (ex. parliamentary and presidential)
According to the number of persons
exercising sovereign power
Monarchy: one in which the supreme and final
authority is in the hands of a single person

Kinds of monarchy:
a) Absolute monarchy – one in which the ruler rules
by divine right
b) Limited monarchy – one in which the ruler rules
in accordance with the constitution
Aristocracy: one in which political power is exercised
by a few privileged class
Democracy: one in which political power is
exercised by a majority of the people

a) Direct or pure democracy: one in which the


will of the State is formulated or expressed
directly and immediately through the people in
a mass meeting or primary assembly

b) Indirect, representative or republican


democracy or one in which the will of the
state is formulated and expressed through the
agency of a relatively small and select body of
persons chosen by the people to act as their
representatives
According to the extent of powers
exercised by the central government

Unitary government: one in which the control of


national and local affairs is exercised by the
central or national government

Federal government: one in which the powers of


government are divided between two sets of
organs, one for national affairs and the other for
local affairs.
According to the relationship between
the executive and the legislative
branches of government

Parliamentary: one in which the state confers


upon the legislature the power to terminate the
tenure of office of the real executive

Presidential government: one in which the state


makes the executive constitutionally independent
of the legislature as regards his policies and acts
The politics of the Philippines takes place in an
organized framework of a presidential,
representative and democratic republic whereby
the president is both the head of state and the
head of government within a pluriform multi-party
system.

This system revolves around three separate and


sovereign yet interdependent branches: the
legislative branch (the law-making body), the
executive branch (the law-enforcing body), and
the judicial branch (the law-interpreting body).

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