LESSON 1.

Studying POLITICS, GOVERNANCE, and its important concepts

At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Define politics, governance, and vital concepts.
2. Differentiate politics and governance.
3. Explain the essence of politics in society.

Political scientists of old define political science as the study of the state in all its elements,
aspects and relationships. Such elements and aspects includes its government and its
organs and institutions through which the state function.
However, to modern political scientist the definition of political science goes far beyond
more the traditional connotation. To them, it is also a systematic study of politics.
Having this basic knowledge on political science can be empowering for every citizen,
especially in a democratic country like the Philippines.

UNDERSTANDING POLITICS
To have a clearer understanding of politics, it is essential to examine the main
question: what is political science? It is imperative, therefore, to divide the question into
two suggested by the words: “political” and “science”.
First, what is politics? From a historical viewpoint, the term “politics” came from the Greek
word, polis or city-state. Aristotle in his famous book: The Politics made the observation
that every polis, or city-state is a kind of association and that “man by nature is a political
animal.”
This relationship may be characterized by “rule”, “authority”, or “power”. The first page of
Aristotle’s book: The Politics made references to certain kinds of authority: the authority
of statesman as distinguished from the authority of the head of the family, or rule, or power
over others there arises conflicts and ways by which human beings cope with conflicts.
Authority, as a special form of power, is also used by power players or elite groups to
utilize government resources for their own personal and corporate interests. Thus, one
cannot disregard power and authority in the study of politics in society.
Thus Kerkvliet (1995) defined politics broadly as comprising “the activities in which
people, groups, and organizations engage in order to control, allocate, and use resources;
politics also include the values and ideas underlying those activities.”

“Politics” is usually understood in two senses.

 In its general sense, politics can be understood in terms of the dynamics of power in
society. Individuals, groups and organizations in society compete to control resources for
their own ends and interests.
In its strict sense, the term “politics” is often understood as “partisan politics”, that
is, engaging in the formation and promotion of political parties and actively campaigning
for candidates during elections to gain control of political positions in a given body politic
What is common to both senses is the use of power in society to achieve one’s
personal and/or group political interests. Politics is therefore associated with power and
authority in society. One cannot engage in politics without the use of the technologies of
power in order to allocate and control resources in society.
Well-known social contract theorist like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques
Rousseau became popular in 17th and 18th century during the religious war and during
the popular revolutions in England, America and France. Explained that the state was
formed by means of a social contract of men who lived in a state of nature. Men
possessed natural rights derived from natural law which was perceived only by the few
who exercised their human reason.
Political science is the academic discipline that deals with the key issues and concepts of
politics.

Ideology
An ideology is a set of opinions or beliefs of a group or an individual. Very often ideology
refers to a set of political beliefs or a set of ideas that characterize a particular culture.
An ideology is a collection of normative beliefs and values that an individual or group
holds for other than purely epistemic reasons.
[1] In other words, these rely on basic assumptions about reality that may or may not have
any factual basis. The term is especially used to describe systems of ideas and ideals
which form the basis of economic or political theories and resultant policies. In these there
are tenuous causal links between policies and outcomes owing to the large numbers of
variables available, so that many key assumptions have to be made.

SOME POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES and Their Impact on Political Communities

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions
in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include
tradition, human imperfection, organic society, hierarchy, authority, and property rights.
[1] Conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as religion, parliamentary
government, and property rights, with the aim of emphasizing social stability and
continuity.
[2] The more traditional elements—reactionaries—oppose modernism and seek a return
to "the way things were"

Liberalism, political doctrine that takes protecting and enhancing the freedom of the
individual to be the central problem of politics.
is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed, and
equality before the law

Marxism, to put it rather simply, is a type of economic system proposed by Karl Marx in
which there are no classes. The government would control all resources and means of
production to, in theory, ensure equality.
Marxism is a theory and method of working-class self-emancipation. As a theory, it relies
on a method of socioeconomic analysis that views class relations and social conflict using
a materialist interpretation of historical development and takes a dialectical view of social
transformation. It originates from the works of 19th-century German philosophers Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Marxism uses a methodology, now known as historical materialism, to analyze and
critique the development of class society and especially of capitalism as well as the role
of class struggles in systemic economic, social, and political change. According to Marxist
theory, in capitalist societies, class conflict arises due to contradictions between the
material interests of the oppressed and exploited proletariat—a class of wage labourers
employed to produce goods and services—and the bourgeoisie—the ruling class that
owns the means of production and extracts its wealth through appropriation of the surplus
product produced by the proletariat in the form of profit.
This class struggle that is commonly expressed as the revolt of a society's productive
forces against its relations of production, results in a period of short-term crises as the
bourgeoisie struggle to manage the intensifying alienation of labor experienced by the
proletariat, albeit with varying degrees of class consciousness. In periods of deep crisis,
the resistance of the oppressed can culminate in a proletarian revolution which, if
victorious, leads to the establishment of socialism—a socioeconomic system based on
social ownership of the means of production, distribution based on one's contribution and
production organized directly for use. As the productive forces continued to advance,
Marx hypothesized that socialism would ultimately be transformed into a communist
society: a classless, stateless, humane society based on common ownership and the
underlying principle: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs".
REVOLUTION in political science, a revolution (Latin: revolutio, "a turn around") is a
fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization
which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due to
perceived oppression (political, social, economic) or political incompetence.[1] In book V
of the Politics, the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) described two types
of political revolution:

Complete change from one constitution to another

Modification of an existing constitution.

Anarchism The etymological origin of anarchism derives from ancient Greek word
anarkhia. Anarkhia meant "without a ruler" as it was composed by the prefix a (i.e.
"without") and the word arkhos (i.e. leader or ruler).
is an anti-authoritarian political philosophy
1] That advocates self-managed, self-governed societies based on voluntary, cooperative
institutions and the rejection of hierarchies those societies view as unjust. These
institutions are often described as stateless societies,
[2] Although several authors have defined them more specifically as distinct institutions
based on non-hierarchical or free associations.

Libertarianism (from Latin: libertas, meaning "freedom") is a collection of political

philosophies and movements that uphold liberty as a core principle.
[1] Libertarians seek to maximize political freedom and autonomy, emphasizing freedom
of choice, voluntary association, and individual judgment.
[2][3][4] Libertarians share a skepticism of authority and state power, but they diverge on
the scope of their opposition to existing political and economic systems. Various schools
of libertarian thought offer a range of views regarding the legitimate functions of state and
private power, often calling for the restriction or dissolution of coercive social institutions.

POWER
In social science and politics, power is the capacity of an individual to influence
the conduct (behaviour) of others. The term "authority" is often used for power that is
perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as evil or unjust.
This sort of primitive exercise of power is historically endemic to humans;
however, as social beings, the same concept is seen as good and as something inherited
or given for exercising humanistic objectives that will help, move, and empower others as
well.
The classical definition of power comes from the German sociologist of Max
Weber, who defines power as an “opportunity existing within a social relationship which
permits one to carry out one's own will, even against resistance (Max Weber 1968: 212).
It is the ability of an actor to realize his or her will in a social action, even against
the will of other actors.
For Max Weber, the modern sources of power are social class and social
status. Social class refers to the position of the person in the economic ladder of society-
-upper, middle or lower class--as shown in his/her amount of wealth and income.
Social status basically refers to one’s life chances or position in the market as
indicated by one’s credentials, level of education and prestige earned in society.

Social Class
A social class is a group of people of similar status, commonly sharing comparable
levels of power and wealth. In sociology, social classes describe one form of social
stratification.
When a society is organized by social classes, as opposed to by castes, it is
theoretically possible for people to attain a higher status than the status with which they
started.
This movement is possible because social classes are not based on birth but on
factors such as education and professional success. For example, someone born into a
low-income family can achieve a higher status through education, talent, and work, or
perhaps through social connections. A society organized according to social classes,
then, allows for some social mobility.

Authority
Is the legitimate power which one person or a group holds and exercises over
another. The element of legitimacy is vital to the notion of authority and is the main means
by which authority is distinguished from the more general concept of power.
Power can be exerted by the use of force or violence. Authority, by contrast,
depends on the acceptance by subordinates of the right of those above them to give those
orders or directives.

Sources of Authority in Society

 Max Weber identified three ideal types of legitimacy upon which
authority may rest: (1) charisma, (2) tradition and (3) rational-legal. In any actual society
or institution, power may be exercised on the basis of a mixture of these types.
Charismatic authority is founded on the personal traits and gifts of the leader.
The more authentic these personal traits are perceived by the people, the higher is the
legitimacy of the leader.
People obey the leader not primarily because of certain laws or traditions, but
because of his/her personal talents.
Traditional authority is one that is based on some sort of tradition handed down
from the past. The leader is obeyed by the people as legitimate because of an informal
norm handed down by elders in society.
It is a kind of authority in which the legitimacy of the authority figure is based on
custom. This type of authority is that which the traditional rights of a powerful and
dominant individual or group are accepted, or at least not challenged, by the subordinate
individuals.
Rational-legal authority is the most common feature in modern and
contemporary society. This authority is based on a set of rules, and the belief in the
legitimacy of the process of rule creation and enforcement.
This form of domination is routinized through bureaucracy. The leader assumes
the right to exercise power over the people because the law says so.

BARNETT and DUVALL (PALLAVER 2011) created the

TAXOMONY of POWER with FOUR MAJOR TYPES.
1. Compulsory Power – the direct control of one actor of the conditions and
actions of another.

2. Institutional Power – The indirect ways in which an actor affects another.

Example is the use of rules or the law to impose order.

3. Structural Power – basically looks at the position and the roles of various actor
in relation to each other.
Example are coach to player, boss to worker.

4. Productive Power – similar to structural power to looks into the relative

position of the actors, the social production of their roles, and how the roles
affects the actor’s perceptions and actions.