Targets:

• Define Politics and enumerate its

different views
• Understand the field of Political
Science and what makes the study of
politics scientific
• Explain Easton’s Political System as a
tool of analysis in explaining topics
such as Philippine Politics
• Apply the approaches to political

3
analysis in examining political
phenomena.

What is Political
Science?
 Politics: Then and Now

The term politics comes from the

Greek word polis which means “city-
state”. This is because the Ancient
Greeks society was divided into
individual city-states with their own
system of governments.
 Politics: Then and Now
During their time, politics was exclusively
practiced by a few people who were involve
in governance and public affairs. They
belong to the so-called public sphere. The
rest of the society including businesses,
educational institutions, families, and
other citizens who were not involved in
running the affairs of the state belong to
the private sphere.
 STATE
The state is a political organization
which, through government,
exercises sovereign rule over
population within a defined
territory.
 SOVEREIGNTY
Sovereignty refers to absolute rule,
power, and authority within the
state. In the international context,
sovereignty makes the state an
independent and autonomous
entity.
 Politics
“The activity through which people make,
preserve, and amend the rules under
which they live”
- Andrew Heywood

Politics can be viewed in four ways:

 art of
Politics as the

Politics government which

involves all aspects of
running a country;
 Politics as public
affairs which draws
the line between those in
public sphere who are in

Politics
charge of the affairs of the
state, and those who
belong to the private
sphere such as families,
schools, religious
institutions, and
businesses;
 Politics as
compromise and
consensus which
Politics
points to the negotiation
and agreement among
individuals regarding
values, norms, conduct,
and resources; and
 Politics as a power
which refers to the
exercise of will

Politics
(influencing political
decisions) or force
(military of police) in order
to attain a desired
outcome.
The Study of Politics as a
Science

Political Science
refers to the systematic
study of governance
and policies, political
culture and activities,
power relations and
ideologies.
 EASTON’S POLITICAL SYSTEM
David Easton’s Political System is a framework for
understanding political culture and policymaking. It
shows how the interactions between political actors
(citizens or groups) and institutions result in the
formulation and execution of policies.
 EASTON’S POLITICAL SYSTEM
In this framework, the political system and actors
are surrounded by a physical and social
environment. Changes in the environment, natural
or man-made, affect the actors prompting the
generations of demands addressed to the
government. These demands maybe in the form of
fair wages, quality education, housing, and public
works, among others.
 EASTON’S POLITICAL SYSTEM
As a gatekeepers of the political system, the
government is responsible for filtering then
numerous demands it receives. This means
demands alone cannot completely ensure the
government corresponding response and actions.
Demands must be driven by supporting factors to
gain significance and legitimacy for government
action.
 EASTON’S POLITICAL SYSTEM
Support may come in the form of the citizen’s tax
payment and provision of services, obedience to
laws and regulations, and participation in
government-led activities along with other
demonstration of submission to the will of state.
 EASTON’S POLITICAL SYSTEM
Once the demands go through the government and
into the political system, decisions are made in the
form of policies for enforcement and feedback from
the public. The framework operates to a cyclical
manner, much like a circuit.
 The Philippine political model
can be characterized as a
representative democracy. This
means the citizens get to
Philippine choose their leaders or
representatives by
Politics: participating in the democratic
process of elections and
An exercising their right to vote.
Selecting government officials

Overview through elections makes them

more accountable to the people
compared to inheriting their
positions to power.
 Branches of Government

The Philippines has a centralized national

government which primarily formulates
and implements law and order throughout
the country. It is divided into three
branches: executive, legislative and
judiciary.
 Separation of Powers

Separation of Power is the principle

of separating government functions
in formulating, enforcing, and
adjudicating laws into different
offices.
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH

The executive branch is in charge

or implementing or enforcing the
law. It is composed of President
and Vice President of the
Philippines. Both officials are
elected for six years.
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH
• President- country’s Chief Executive as the head of
state or head of government.
• With the approval of the Commission on
Appointments, appoints the Members of the
Cabinet- heads of various departments who are
effectively the Presidents counterpart in specific
areas of state responsibility.
• Also appoints Supreme Court Justices from the list
nominees supplied by the Judicial And Bar Council.
• Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH
• The Vice President of the Philippines can
also simultaneously become a member of
the cabinet if the President offers him or her
a department or office to head under the
executive branch.
• The Vice President is also to the next-in-line
to be the head of state and government
upon the death, disability, or resignation of
the incumbent President.
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH
While the executive branch enforces laws all
over the country, it also distributes or devolves
some powers of policymaking and enforcement
to the heads of local government units (LGUs)-
provinces, cities, municipalities, and
barangays. This makes the LGUs relatively
autonomous in its day-to-day functions and
operations.
 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Legislative Branch is responsible for
formulating and amending the laws of the
country adhering to the contents of the
Philippine Constitution. It is bicameral
which means it has two chambers: the
upper house or the Senate and the lower
house or the House of Representatives.
 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The House of Representatives is
composed of elected district
representatives from LGUs and party-list
representatives. They are elected to serve
three years per term and may be re-
elected for a maximum of three
consecutive terms. This make their term
limit a total of nine years in service.
 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The Philippine Senate is composed of 24

elected senators. They are elected to serve
six years per term and may be re-elected
for a maximum of two consecutive terms.
This makes their term limit a total of
twelve years in service.
 JUDICIAL BRANCH

The judicial branch or judiciary is

responsible for adjudicating and
interpreting the laws of the country in
accordance with the provisions the
Philippine Constitution. It is composed of
the Supreme Court and the lower courts.
 JUDICIAL BRANCH
The Supreme Court is composed of one
Chief Justice and fourteen associate
justices. They are expected to serve until
they are 70 years old. Once a Supreme
Court justice retires, a new one is
appointed by the President within 90 days
from the list of nominees presented by the
Judicial and Bar Council.
 JUDICIAL BRANCH

In fulfilling their adjudication duties, the

Supreme Court justices may sit en banc
("before the entire bench" or altogether) or
by their division composed of five
members each.
 Political Participation
Throughout the various presidential
administrations, Filipinos exercised
political participation through electoral
voting, referendums, groups, and
protests. One of the historical landmarks
of large-scale citizen political participation
happened in the 1986 People Power
Revolution that resulted in the overthrow
of the Marcos dictatorship.
 Political Participation
Today, rapid technological advancement and the
widespread use of social media has led to the
democratization of the political arena. Political
participation from different generations and
backgrounds has constantly risen in the
Philippines. Social media is now the platform for
electoral campaigns, advocacy groups, political
statements, and expression of public opinion- far
from the usual broadsheets, telecasts, and public
appearances.
 Political Thinkers
The study of politics is intertwined with
philosophy and other fields of social
sciences. Political thinkers develop theories
in order to make sense of the politics of their
time. From the time of the ancient Greek
philosophers to the contemporary period,
below is a sample of thinkers who
contributed foundational political ideas in
different eras.
 ARISTOTLE

Aristotle, the father of

Political Science, concerned
himself with determining the
best way to organize, govern,
and achieve the ends of a
state.
During Aristotle's time, the most common
forms of government are oligarchies and
democracies in city-states. He observed that
oligarchies tend to serve the interests of the
few, wealthy, and powerful at the expense of
the poor. Greek democracy, which is different
from today's democracy, on the other hand is
the rule of the poor who despised and
automatically isolated or banished those who
are rich. He therefore recommended the polity
as the ideal form of government which is
leaning towards having several quality leaders
in government with the best interests of
everyone in mind.
 Niccolo
Machiavelli

He formulated his political

ideas from his observations
and practice of politics while
serving as an Italian
statesman.
His famous work, The Prince, contained
his recommendations on how a state must
be governed and how power must be
acquired and retained by its leader even if
it means resorting to cunning and
ruthless means. The book was intended to
be a guide for the future leader of a united
Italy. Machiavelli's amoral view of politics
makes him one of the controversial
thinkers of his time.
 John Locke

John Locke is known as one

of the renowned social
contract theorists whose
written works gave
prescriptions on how society
must be organized and
governed.
A key thinker of liberalism which focuses
on the rights and freedoms of people, he
wrote about the government's
responsibility to protect the citizens' rights
to life, liberty, and property. It was also
Locke who proposed the separation of
powers in the government to ensure
checks and balances and the importance
of selecting a leader through the process
of elections.
 Samuel
Huntington
Samuel Huntington is an
American professor and political
commentator whose contributions
to Political Science include the
concepts of waves of democracy
where he related political shifts
and changes in the distribution of
power among states as triggers for
the implementation of democratic
reforms.
He identified the first three waves as one
which occurred in the 19th century,
another after World War II, and that of the
mid-1970s in South Europe which was
followed by Latin America and Asia. His
more controversial contribution. would be
his projection that the major civilizations
in the world would come into conflict and
would cause global disorder and adverse
effects in the 21st century.
 Approaches to Political
Analysis
In line with the systematic nature of
Political Science, different approaches to
studying politics are developed through
time. This section explores five major
approaches to studying politics:
philosophical tradition, empirical
approach, behavioralism, rational choice,
and critical approaches.
 Philosophical Tradition
Political Science and political
philosophy can be traced back to
Ancient Greece. During this time,
philosophers like Plato were
preoccupied with questions on 'what
should be rather than what is.
 Empirical Approach
The empirical approach to the study of politics
moves away from the philosophical tradition by
putting emphasis on a descriptive analysis of
observable data on political structures and
types of governance. By exploring what is, the
empirical approach seeks to provide an
objective or impartial examination of politics.
Aristotle's classification of government types is
an example of this approach.
The empirical approach is also reflected in today's
widely used institutionalist approaches. Traditional
Institutionalism deals with the description and
comparison of governments, constitutions, laws,
political processes, and organizations which may be
done across different countries and time periods.

Recent developments led to the formulation of New

Institutionalism which slightly deviates from
traditional institutionalism on two aspects:
(1) it treats institutions not as structures but as
norms or recurring patterns of political behavior, and
(2) it focuses more on how institutions shape the
political behavior and interactions of people in a
society.
 Behavioralism
Behavioralism analyzes political topics based
on observable behaviors by using natural
science methods, particularly quantitative or
statistical methods of analysis. This can be
applied to the study of voting behavior,
leadership, political parties, and interest
groups, among others.
 Rational Choice
Rational choice explores how individuals weigh
options and choose one they think would be
most beneficial to them. This approach is
usually applied when examining public policies
and international relations topics such as
nuclear deterrence, arms race, international
cooperation, and balance of power.
 Critical Approaches
A series of new approaches to political analysis
emerged in the 1980s to alternate perspectives to the
dominant approaches involving institutionalism,
behavioralism, and rational choice. They may be
considered as critical for two reasons. One is they are
critical of the status quo. These approaches seek to
study topics which are either unexplored or about
the marginalized sectors of society. Two, they are
critical of the dominant approaches to political
analysis and they wish to go beyond quantitative
measures in studying politics.
 Critical Approaches
Some examples of critical approaches are critical theory,
interpretive theory, and feminist theory. Critical Theory
shares its roots with the Marxist theory; however, it
primarily seeks to expose the prevailing ideological,
historical, and social practices as a means of behavioral
control, and in doing so, free the individual and society at
large. Interpretive Theory is an approach which views
politics and social dynamics as a narrative whose meanings
and interpretations vary depending on the chosen point of
view. Finally, Feminist Theory explores the political
relationships and factors that surround gender and power
relations.
 The Road Ahead
The study of politics is constantly evolving. From
a simple question of what makes a good
government', the study of politics eventually
branched out into a study of different areas
ranging from political dynamics to public
administration to international relations. What
initially began as the musings and writings of
political thinkers became the foundational
thought and theories which paved the way for
various approaches to politics.
 The Road Ahead
As society continues to develop, so does our
capability to makes sense of the political
dynamics around us. Armed with the knowledge
of the different views, areas, and approaches in
studying politics, not only do we appreciate but
also understand and provide answers to the
pressing issues of the day. The challenge for us in
turn is to become consistently aware and
constantly ready to apply what we have learned in
dealing with the politics of our time.
 END

OF THE

LESSON