BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS

OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
GIL D. RAMOS, MAHisto
Kagawaran ng Agham Panlipunan at Humanidades
Kolehiyo ng mga Agham at Sining
kulay_1217@yahoo.com
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 INTRODUCTION
 THE STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
 POLITICAL SCIENCE
 Systematic study of state and government – it also treats of its foundations and the principles underlying
government administration.
 Aristotle defined political science as the study of the polis, (Greek term meaning a city)

 Politics – a study of power relationship among people in a given society as well as those of states in the
international community.
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 Elements of Politics
 1. Power – persuasive, authoritative or coercive capacity to get things done
--- ability or the right to do something;
--- the ability to exercise authority over others.
--- requires adequate and legitimate bases, and clarity of purpose that can be the ground
for its strength and dynamism (legal bases)
 2. Rule
 3. Authority
 4. Influence
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POLITICAL SCIENCE
 Manner of Acquiring and exercising (Elements)
 Democratic/Autocratic
 Theocratic/Authoritarian
 Consensual/Invasional

 Thus Politics is the owning, exercising of power, rule, authority and influence for whatever reason. It is
the study of power and the powerful, of influence and influential, of rulers and the ruled, and of authority
and the authoritative.
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 Leadership – refers to the exercise of authority whether formal or informal, official or
unofficial, in directing and coordinating the works of others.
 Governance – is the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the
management of a country’s affairs at all levels.
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 POLITICAL SCIENCE AS A SCIENCE
 NO – because political phenomena are characterized by uncertainty, variableness and lack of
order and continuity, for example, government platform discontinues after each elections of new
set officials
 YES – because it represents a mass of knowledge about the phenomena of the state, acquired by
systematic observation, experience and study.
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 FIELDS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
 1) Political Theory and Philosophy – to trace the origin, evolution and spread of political ideals.
 Political theory and philosophy are usually dealt with historically.
 History of political thoughts forms the basis of all political studies
 Great books on political theory and philosophy are essential for broad education in politics
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 These writers include Plato, Aristotle, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Niccolo Machiavelli,
Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacsques Rousseau, John Locke, Montesquieu, Immanuel Kant,
Georg Wilhelm, Friedrich Hegel, and Karl Marx, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
 The use of empirical politics (politics based on experience
 Correct generalization based on verified facts
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 2) Comparative government – to present an analysis of the structures and operations of the
different political systems
 Understanding of political reality may be achieved by comparing the political institutions and practices
of two or more countries.
 3) International relations – include diplomacy, international law, and international organizations
 Imperialism and nationalism are important subjects
 also deals with defense policies and problems connected with peace and war; effects of economic pressures and
international relations
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 4) National Government and politics – so as to gain insights into the relationships of the
ruler and the ruled.
 5)Public administration – enable government officials to learn the art of balancing limited
public resources with the possible goals of the state.
 It deals with tasks of public officials as accounting, budgets and personnel management.
 6) Political behavior – a field that explores the way people respond to certain political conditions
and influences i.e. as to how many voters favor a candidate who looks good on television
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
 As a field of inquiry, PS begins as early as 4th century BC
 Called as master science by Aristotle (382-322 BC) as he though all other sciences depended on
it.
 Aristotle as Father of Political Science. He wrote the book Politics, considered as the first
systematic treaties on political affairs.
 Known for his empirical studies (investigation based on experience)
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 Plato(the teacher), referred to as Father of Political Philosophy, wrote the book The
Republic, pursued the study of abstract speculation (thinking about non-concrete things)
 He envisioned a Utopian-like government (faultless, ideal, perfect) under a benevolent
rule of a wise and incorruptible ruler.
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
 1) Scholasticism
 Major political movement during the late middle age
 Followers are called scholastics
 fit the Greek tradition of political science into the religious framework of Christianity
 Harmonize the power of government with ethics and morals
 Greatest scholastic was Saint Thomas Aquinas
 Summa Theologica as his most famous book
 Emphasizes certain rights and duties (Christian purposes) of individuals in the process of
government
 Government should rule in accordance with those rights and duties
 Laid down the foundation of modern constitutionalism by stating that the government was
limited by law in governing
 2) Secularism
 Challenged the theories of Scholasticism in the 1500’s and early 1600’s
 Niccolo Machiavelli, a Florentine politician, pushed aide Christian idealism in favor of realistic power
politics
 Thomas Hobbes, an English Philosopher, generalized Machiavelli’s ideas
 TH claimed that a person’s entire life was a careless search for power.
 Secularism approach separated politics from religion
 3) Constitutionalism
 A political system in which the powers of government are in fact limited by law or tradition
 Developed during the mid-1600
 Reaction to absolutism (absolute rule by one person)
 John Locke, emphasized basic human rights and believe that people should revolt against a government
that violated those rights
 4) Liberalism
 Developed as a political philosophy largely from the theories of Locke
 It represents willingness to change ideas, proposals and policies to meet current problems
 Liberal theories were reinforced by the radical individualism (Jean Jacques Rousseau) and Utilitarian
Theories (David Hume and Jeremy Bentham)
 Individualists believe that freedom of the individual is as important as the welfare of the community
 Utilitarian believe that the goal of politics is the greatest happiness of the greatest number
 Three German philosophers contributed to the development of liberal ideas somewhat different
from classic liberalism
 The Liberalism of Fichte and Hegel included ideas of socialism and nationalism
 Kant’s Liberalism included a theory of universal peace through world organization (book entitled
On Eternal Peace)
 5) Democracy
 Some of Rousseau’s writings carried his political theories beyond radical individualism
 In Social Contract, He became the theorist of democracy
 His emphasis on the collective—the general will gave rise to socialism.
 Eventually, theories on democracy became divided into liberalism, constitutional, democratic
ideas were followed in the US; socialist democratic ideas became prominent I Europe
 6) Socialism
 Further developed by Karl Marx, a German Philosopher and economist
 First expressed his socialist ideas in Communist Manifesto (1848), which he wrote with
colleague Friedrich Engels
 Communism in Russia and former Soviet Union was based on Marxist’s doctrine as interpreted by
V.I. Lenin who led Russian Revolution in 1917. China and other Communist countries still follow
Marxist-Leninist principles which is different from the Marxist doctrines followed by democratic
socialist in many western European countries
BAPS 50 –FUNDAMENTALS OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY