FUNDAMENTALS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Neo Marxist- Marxist of the modern times.

Political Science- study of state and government.
Aristotle- Democracy (Bad form of Government)
Monocracy- people no longer submit to the
laws of the land. (Anarchy)
UNDERSTANDING OF THE STATE
 To have a state is to possess sovereignty. (own
government)
4 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A STATE
People- a community of person perhaps are in different
portion of territory. (More or less numerous)
Territory- having a government of their own.
Government- freedom from external control.
Sovereignty- habitual obedience.
- independence from external control
- colonial rule
Concept:
Nation-State- man’s highest stage of political
development.
June 12- American Independence
June 4, 1946- Philippines was officially declared a state.
Tidings McDuffy Law- provides that Filipinos will make
the constitution.
Malolos Constitution- first constitution (1935
Constitution)
POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
Politics and Government- two related concepts
Political Science include topics such as:
1. American Government (National, State, Local)
2. Comparative (or foreign) Government
3. Political Theory
4. Political Dynamics (parties, pressure groups,
voters, public opinion)
5. Public Administration
6. Public (Constitutional) Law
7. International Relations, Laws and Organization
8. National Security Studies
9. Federalism
10. Political Methodology
11. //.2Geographical.l3w Area (Europe, Latin
America, Africa, Asia) Studies
APPROACHES:
1. Traditional
2. Behavioralism
3. Normative- which is to say that it deals not only
with what was and is, but also with several
views of what ought to be.
4. Theoretical
5. Historical
6. Institutional
EARLY APPROACHES TO POLIITICAL SCIENCE
Political Science began as political speculation.
Arthashastra- a book believed to have been written by
a Brahman advisor to an Indian King in the fourth
century B.C.
- It is full of pragmatic advice on how to
govern successfully and bears remarkable resemblance
to
The Prince- 16th Century Western Work
- written for a similar purpose by Niccolo
Machiavelli (Italian stateman and
scholar
Confucius- his writings are good example of Non-
Western political theory
Early Western studies of government includes:
The Republic- written by Plato
Politics- written by Aristotle
Cicero- Roman writer who emphasized the practical
aspect of government, especially in the areas of
administration and law.
During the Medieval Period, the CHURCH became the
focus of much what passed for government, the
approach became extremely normative.
St. Augustine Blended both government and
St. Thomas Aquinas theology in their writings
Aristotle- attempt to discover a political “science”
The New Science- One of the least known but most
illustrative work of the Renaissance Period by Giovanni
Battista Vico, published in the 1740s.
After the Reformation, there was a return to the more
theoretical approach common to the “age of reason”.
The Federalist Papers (1788-1789) illustrate the “state
of the art’
The formal teaching of government had entered “the
higher classes in schools” through such book as
The Political Class Book (1831) - written by William
Sullivan, a Massachusetts’ attorney
- bears remarkable resemblance to modern
political science text except for addition
moral philosophy
The Congressional Government (1885) by Woodrow
Wilson- political science emerged as separate and
distinct discipline.
Geopolitics- an advent in 1904, a
Darwin’s combination of geographical principles
theory of and those of political power) Sir Harold
evolution Mackinder
Karl Marx Economy Policy- idea that
“scientific governments, by manipulations such
socialism” variables as taxes, spending, and the
supply of money, could keep the entire
economy on even kneel. (John Mark
Keynes’ writings gave birth to this idea)
TRADITIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
Traditional Approach- emphasized institutions of
government.
Behavioralism Approach- focused on individuals and
their behavior in social circumstances.
- It continues to see politics and government
as operational systems made up of
various subsystems, many of which can
be studied, measured, and evaluated in
terms of their operational qualities.
Math Model- a device for description and explanation
of political phenomena.
TRADITIONALIST VS. BEHAVIORALIST
1935- discipline has become “a device, invented by
university teachers, for avoiding that dangerous subject,
politics, without achieving science.”
“Political Science as I would like it to be.” –Alfred de
Grazia
Traditionalist:
*Cite complexity of human behavior and the
near impossibility of fully explaining how political
decisions are actually made.
*Question whether total objectivity
(required by “empirical” approaches) can be sustained
when political scientists are attempting to measure
things about which they themselves, by virtue of their
own orientation, are apt to hold strong views.
The narrow focus of the behavioral approach has
nettled some traditionalists who are used to thinking in
terms of large organizations and structured power
relationships.
Behavioralists are labeled as logical positivist- limit the
scope of inquiry to observable behavior.
Leo Strauss- led traditionalists counterattack almost
from the beginning, giving the label ‘Straussian”
-Asserted that the fundamental purpose of
the study of government remains to help people better
understand government institutions and processes so as
to operate them for the benefit of all and for the
preservation of traditional values such as freedom.
Behavioralist:
*Measuring with numbers and symbols does
not necessarily reduce what is measured to numbers
and symbols. Rather, number and measurements
enable one to view governmental phenomena in new
ways and not in substitute ways.
 BASIC CONCEPTS OF POLITICS
Aristotle (Greek Philosopher and Educator)- noted the
unhappy fact that while men and women are by nature
gregarious (which is to say that they have an instinct to
live with their fellows in order to be fully human), they
are also by nature quarrelsome, selfish, and a bit
greedy. (It was in service of this dilemma that
government was born)
Political Government- the highest and most civilized
form of government
- requires a knowledge of politics
There are 3 kinds of to any human conflict:
1. They can fight about it and to the victor goes
the spoil. Not so civilized.
2. They can attempt to ignore or transcend the
conflict (i.e., find something else to do). Doesn’t
solve and can produce tensions, ulcer and other
pathological side effects.
3. They can compromise their disputes. The
civilized way. Beginning of politics.
Politics: The peaceful resolution of human disputes
through compromise.
Compromise: A compromise (a political solution) does
not have to be exactly equal for all concerned. It must
be acceptable to major participants as an alternative to
fighting or ignoring the disputes.
Government: An institution whose purpose is to solve
human disputes through law and enforce those
solutions or laws through superior power (i.e.,
government is a regulator of society)
Law: is often nothing more than a solution to a public
conflict. Most laws anticipate the conflict and impose a
solution before the conflict occurs.
NOTE: Government need not be conciliatory or political.
It is just that we have come to identify good
government as political in nature and to demand some
sort of element of compromise in it.
Authoritarian Government (king, dictator, oligarchy,
religious priest, totalitarian party- dictate the outcomes
of conflict (laws) through conformity to a variety of
idiosyncratic motivations.
Non-political Government- enforce laws through
power- power that must be superior to any other power
within a society.
Power: The capacity to cause a thing to happen that
would not happen without that capacity.
THREE KINDS OF POWER
1. Military Power- or force. Not a very reliable kind
of power.
2. Economic Power- a more reliable kind of power.
There are reciprocal advantages here. Elastic in
nature.
3. Psychological Power- the motivation is
intangible but keenly felt within the psyche of
the person whom the power is being used.
The government have avail all three kind of power
where:
1. Citizen can be killed, jailed, tortured or killed by
police (military power)
2. Citizen can be bribed by social programs, bread
and circuses (economic power)
3. People can be induced by some psychological
bond between them and their government.
NOTE: Most governments depend, most of the time, on
psychological power. (including authoritarian regimes
as well as political governments)
Legitimacy: The popular perception of a justifiable and
acceptable use of public power.
Authority: The “right” to use public power deemed to
be legitimate.
REASONS TO CLAIM LEGITIMACY
1. Religion- claimed to exercise power as an agent
of God. (ex. Saul)
2. Wisdom- power is legitimized by virtue of their
long education and training for government.
3. Force- military power. There is fear induced.
(ex. Hitler, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan)
4. Bloodline- European royalty, after the beginning
of the feudal period, kings and queens were
obeyed and “bonded” to their subjects by virtue
of being the sons and daughters.
5. Ideology- a form of legitimacy through wisdom,
but it is a special case in the modern world.
When ideology is used to legitimize a
totalitarian regime, it does not automatically
follow that the society is in absolute agreement
with those define the ideology. The society
might be governed because the people are
simply apathetic or confused.
“The source of government’s legitimacy is politics.”
“We obey because we are participants in a kind of
government called politics.”
The key to the success achievement of this legitimacy
is found in a process called SOCIALIZATION.
Political Culture- derived from a common knowledge of
the governing system and the set of values and
assumptions that underscore it. It was rooted in the
society’s history, traditions, ideological outlook, and
self-image.
Political Ethos (better term Public Ethos)- part of
society’s common value system
-consist of the society’s public attitudes,
moral code, and customary habits.
- constitute a behavior pattern that is
supposed to be repeated by most members of that
society in a fairly regular manner.
Socialization- a repetitive pattern of behavior.
The process of socialization and the propagation of
public values stresses the ideas and principles of
politics.
Bernard Crick- politics arises from accepting the fact of
the simultaneous existence of diff group or people, with
diff interest and traditions, all within the same society.
Politics-is the public actions of free men and women
intent on being heard and involved in public questions.
- an activity, a means to an end. It can take
place in simple or complex structures. It is a human,
normal process. It is civilized humanity in the fullness of
their public being.
TWO APPROACHES TO DEMOCRACY
Political Democracy
Egalitarian Democracy
1. In egalitarian democracy, democracy is for the
people. In political democracy, government is
of, for, and by the people.
 2. In egalitarian, there is enforced standard of
equality. In political democracy, there is an
equal opportunity to achieve any standard.
3. In egalitarian, the emphasis is on output. In
political, the emphasis in on input.
4. In egalitarian, participation is enforced. In
political, participation is encouraged, but
optional
Feedback- is the response to the output by public or by
officials responsible for reviewing the performance of
government. (Public opinion, Official responses)
THE TIME OF SOVEREIGNTY
The theory of time of sovereignty is that when civil
breakdown or an outside emergency or threat arises in
genuine form, then certain extraordinary actions may
be allowed, and even indeed be required, by the
government of a political democracy.
(The story of Cincinnatus. Roman State was threatened
by Aequi and Volsei.)
Abraham Lincoln
took extraordinary powers and
Winston Churchill
issued extraordinary orders
Franklin Roosevelt
2 PREREQUISITES OF TIME OF SOVEREIGNTY
1. The emergency or civil breakdown must be
clearly apparent to the vast majority of the
citizens.
2. The leaders who use extraordinary powers
during a time of sovereignty must be prepares
to relinquish those powers and return
government to people as soon as the crisis has
apparently passed.
Aristotle’s The Nicomachean- solution to the search for
good government is to recognize the claims of the many
and the homogenization of those claims into public
policy, or ‘distributive justice’.
-“The whole point of politics is not so much
how to rule but how to rule well. ”
- Good laws help make good people and that
good government makes good law only through
politics”
“Power politics are pseudopolitics”- Fidel Castro
Harold D. Laswell- “who gets what and how”
David Easton- “Politics is the authoritative allocation of
values”
Politics are social action that attempts to resolve the
tension between human needs and social facts. Human
needs include physiological, surety, love, self-esteem,
and self-actualization needs. Social fact are existing
conditions that support or frustrate the satisfaction of
such needs. When we become aware of tension
between our frustrated needs and social facts, we
become politically conscious.
1. Not all governmental decisions are made by
politicians.
2. When public decisions are made by politicians,
they are made by persons who generally place
the goals of conciliation and openness on a high
level.
Politicians- should connote a person of high social
responsibility.
Politics- is the quest of rational men and women who
aspire to govern well.
 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.
- a relatively well-defined piece of territory
inhabited by group of people who have been
traditionally associated with the territory.
NOTE: Politics, power and government may exist
outside of the context of state.
Basic Elements of State
Bounded Territory
Unified Population
Government
Sovereignty
ORIGIN OF THE STATE
1. Divine Theory
- the oldest theory of the origin of the state.
- God created the state and that he had a
reason for doing so.
St. Augustine- declared that obedience even when
ruled by unjust men and women is a divine remedy for
sin, in that God created the state as a chastisement for
original sin. Thus salvation was attainable only by
obedience to the state during one’s time on earth.
Thomas Paine Common Sense- “Government like dress
is the badge of lost innocence”
- God created the state so that men and
women might be controlled in the
context of their original, sinful nature.
- Gave way to the concept of divine right
rule, which is to say that if God created
the state, God also created the
government and decided who should
govern
Appeared on: Ancient Jewish State, Feudal State of
Medieval Period, Theocratic State as Tibet under Dalai
Lama and Monarchies of the Middle East (Saudi
Arabia)
2. Charismatic Theory
- state comes about by virtue of a superior
being or group of beings who enforce
their will over other people
- these strong-willed people, or a strong
willed individual, decide to create an
institution for their own purposes, and
they bind the people together through
force (physical or psychological)
- the leaders define territory, sometimes
through war, and create a mystique
around the government.
- government’s authority is derived from
that mystique
Charismatic leaders:
Adolf Hitler- most dramatic modern manifestation of a
charismatic theory statist
Genghis Khan
Attila the Hun
Napoleon Bonaparte
- this theory suggest that states are
temporary, depending, in the main, on
the success of the individual or group
who created it.
3. Natural Theory (Aristotle)
- the simplest of all theory
- state is nothing more than a stage in the
evolution of human society
Men and women > Horde > Family > Tribe > State
- natural evolutionary order in the context
of linear progression
4. Sportive Theory (Jose Ortega y Gasset)
- one of the most bizarre theory
- the state is merely the result of an instinct
for play, adventure, and sexual conquest
common to young men who lived in
primitive societies that can be defined as
loose hordes.
- From anthropological point of view, a pre-
family, a pre-tribal society
- Young men organized themselves to meet
their sportive ends and the older
member create a similar structure to
deal with the young men.
- Same with the natural theory but not as
inevitable.
5. Social Contract Theory
- An agreement that creates a state and its
government
- Tells us that men and women created the
state for specific reasons of their own,
for specific purposes that they
envisioned, and under specific conditions
that they desire.
THREE VERSION OF SOCIAL CONTRACT
1. THOMAS HOBBES- British philosopher who sought to
justify the claim to absolute rule of King Charles I of
Great Britain and also to describe the nature of
monarchy.
- Do it at a time when the British peoplwere
leaning toward a more limited government with some
degree of representation.
People live in a primitive society called “the state of
nature”- it was a time and a place where everyone was
at war at everyone else-where greed and violence so
undermined the hope for stability that people fell into a
state of despair.
The Leviathan- Life was nasty, brutish and short.
“Rational individuals sensing the hopelessness of the
situation came together at unknown time and decided
to do something”
“They made a contract in which one individual was
selected to rule over the rest.”
-The contract was rather one way.
-The people would agree to obey the ruler in all cases.
The ruler, in turn, owed the people only the
requirement to rule- the requirement to resolve
conflicts for the people through law and force, if
necessary, and thus to make life “livable”
-The ruler owed the people nothing else other than to
rule; they gave up all future political rights.
-The people had no choice because without a ruler, and
by implication without an absolute monarch, they
would lapse again to the state of nature.
“People created the state, under an authoritarian ruler,
in a social contract. They did so because they had no
choice.”
“Fear was the major motivation.”
Fear of violence, in effect, “civilized” humanity by Rousseau’s state of nature exists in the future and not
causing people to create the state. simply in the past.
2. JOHN LOCKE- a British philosopher attempting to
explain how a king of Great Britain had been Hobbes Locke Rousseau
deposed prior to the Glorious Revolution, had put State of Nasty, Not as bad Unstructured
limitations on future kings. Nature Brutish as Hobbes Humankind
State of nature-not quite as bad as Hobbes would have and Short would
it. There were dangers, but there were rational people have it
as well. People Rational Rational Rational
-These rational people acted less out of fear than out of (Noble
Savages)
a sense of practicality. They realized the need for order,
Sovereign Ruler People Idea/General
law, predictability and for a monopoly of power under
Will
some organized structure.
Motivation Fear Practicality Practicality
-There was a two-way contract
Contract One-way Two-way Consensus
-The people would obey the monarch, keep the law, pay
their taxes and do other reasonable things that the THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT
monarch decreed. On the hand, the monarch owed English dissenters (Pilgrims), left Great Britain in order
something to the people specifically, protection for to seek religious freedom and self –government in the
their lives, liberties, and their property. colony of Jamestown in Virginia. Their intention was to
Liberty- the right to be heard by the government live their particular lifestyle that was irritating to the
-The contract called for obligations on the part of both Anglican Church of England. The Mayflower, the ship on
the monarch and people. which they traveled, got lost. Instead of Jamestown,
-The people can be punished if they broke the law. they were sent to Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The
-The monarch could and should be deposed, by force, captain does not know the way to Jamestown, only the
if necessary. way back to England, and decided to return.
“By breaking the contract, the monarch gives the The Pilgrims were left with two options:
people the right of revolution.” 1. Return to England
Thomas Jefferson- drafted the Declaration of 2. Create their own colony.
Independence using the theory of John Locke For the first time in history, was a group of civilized men
extensively. and women who were put out into a state of nature.
John Locke’s Treatise of Civil Government- allowed for There were savages around and even some are noble,
monarchy. there was no state; there was no government; there
3. JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU- a Frenchman was no protection. The instinct of a social contract
State of nature- simply a state of unstructured prevailed and they drew the Mayflower Compact.
humankind. Mayflower Compact- all ingredients of a modern
- “Noble savages” inhabited this rational and constitution: who shall rule, what the structure of
pleasant world, and that savage was a government shall be, what basic laws shall be.
rather kind, generous and altogether The state they created has come down today as the
good person. modern state of Massachusetts.
The process of civilization- created the phenomena of Fundamental Constitution- written by John Locke.
greed, lust and violence that beset both past and today. “Men and women can re-create the state as they will
- There was a general consensus that some form of from time to time.”
government is necessary. THE FEUDAL AND THE NATION STATE
-The rational inhabitants in this theory made a contract The modern nation derives its beginning from the
to discuss among themselves any public difficulties. medieval feudal states.
-All would participate in the said discussion, there Medieval Ages (Monasticism)
would arise a consensus that would be called “General Divided into:
Will” Early- dominated by Church
-Once the General Will was known, it was sovereign. Late- dominated by King
-The sovereign of Rousseau’s contracted state was not Feudal developed because of the fall of Roman Empire
a person but an idea- the common consensus of the between 500-700 A.D. It became the essential form of
population on any issue. the state in the 17th Century.
-The state has to be rather small, for all had to Pax Romana- a period experience by Rome for atleast
participate in the creation of the General Will, having 200 years.
created it, all would know it and obey it to continue to - most of the western Europe was under one
exist in their rather pleasant society. code of law, under the protection of one military
-Rousseau’s theory gave idea to the US that structure, enjoyed one form of money, and during the
government can exist by consent of the people without later Christian era, practiced one form of religion.
the necessity for a king and queen. - There was uniformity to some extent in the
Articles of Confederation (led to American process of administration, the was a common language
Constitution)- combined idea of Locke and Rousseau, (Latin) and there was a general awareness of the unity
concept of right of revolution and overall concept. of civilization.
NOTE: United States of America were the first to draft “It was a rather placid period and history is more often
actual social contracts. interested in the disruptive aspects of civilization.”
  The period of unity ended and contracted to the knights own the land dominated by their manor
what is now modern Italy, suffering from invasions of houses. Rather, all the land eventually fell under the
Goths, the Visigoths, and Germanic Tribes. What was ownership of the king.
left was a certain degree of uncertainty, fear and danger How big could power under a single king become?
(primarily from the invasion of Norsemen, Vikings, 1. Geography worked against the expansionist
Danes.) desires of British King, French Kings, and Scandinavian
 The people then became insecure because Kings.
their territory lacked a uniform governmental structure. 2. Different kings showed different abilities to
 This led to the birth of the Feudal State. organize and control territory.
FEUDAL STATE “The ultimate boundaries of feudal states were
Feudalism from the word Feudum meaning Land transitory and quiet accidental in nature.”
Fief- Land Grand The people who originally selected the knights had, by
“Small groups of people banned together and chose a doing so, removed themselves from the process of
leader who would protect them which would be called government and the possibility politics.
leaders, those leaders will then choose a greater leader THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO MATTERED ON FEUDAL
and the greater leader will have a super leader.” STATES ARE:
COMMON PEOPLE- (peasant, serfs, farmers) KNIGHTS
 They chose a leader. In exchange for his DUKES
protection, the people give the leader (knights) a KINGS
portion of their farms or the fruits of the hunt. (Their interrelationship between the three determined
KNIGHTS- (lesser leaders) the nature of government of the feudal states.)
 Spent their time organizing defense and
preparing for possible encounter with invading forces.
 He usually built a stockade, and equipped it
with rudimentary weapons (swords, axes, slings, spears)
and upon sight of an enemy, brought “his” people into
the stockade. With their help (perhaps under the
leadership of the knight’s immediate family), the leader
did what he could do to protect them.
 They control a group of farms and a village.
 They ultimately lived in manor houses and
became known as controllers of their territory.
 They have the Code of Chivalry.
 They chose a greater leader where they
owed their combined efforts to protect the fortress “on
call”. They also paid the greater leader (duke) part of
their agricultural produce and whatever other wealth
they controlled.
DUKE- (greater leader)
 Function was to protect the lesser leaders by
building stronger fortress and by equipping it with more
sophisticated weapons.
 They owed the lesser leaders (knights)
protection not only from outside invasion but also from
possible insurrection from within their small
communities.
 The word “duke” came from the Latin word
ducto meaning “leader”.
 They controlled combined territories of the
knights, including many farms and several villages.
 They control something akin to what we call
“county”.
 They chose a super leader where they share
their wealth, in turn, the super leaders protect them
from outside danger and insurrection from the lower
leaders.
KING (Super Leader)
 They control the areas over which the dukes
presided, but he also ultimately came to own outright
the territory itself- the entire territory.
NOTE:
The dukes had control from the king over their
large holdings, but they did not own the land, nor did