INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

The term political science is the
systematic study of the state and
the government
Political Science is a social
science regarding the practice
and theory of politics, the
analysis of political systems, and
the study of political behavior.

 Simply put, political
science is the study of
politics. Some
particular areas that
political scientists
study include public
policy, national
politics, political
theory, international
relations, and
comparative politics.

Greek
›The word politics has its origins
in Ancient Greece. All of the
cities in Ancient Greece, such
as Athens, Sparta, and Corinth,
were referred to as city-states
and the Greek word for a city-
state was polis (πολις)

Latin
›Politicus was an adjective that
was used to describe anything
“of the state”.

Harry Truman
“Politics is a
fascinating game,
because politics
is government. It
is the art of
government.”

“I have never
regarded
politics as the
arena of
morals. It is the
arena of
interest.”
Aneurin Bevan

“Definition of Politics: Poli in
latin meaning many and tics
meaning blood-sucking
parasites.”

“Politics is the
gentle art of
getting votes from
the poor and
campaign funds
from the rich by
promising to
protect each from
the other.”
Oscar Ameringer

1. Political Theory
2. Public Law
3. Public Administration

1. History
2. Economics
3. Geography
4. Sociology and Anthropology
5. Psychology
6. Philosophy
7. Statistics and Logic
8. Jurisprudence

“The function of political science is to
discover the principles that should be
adhered to in public affairs that
eventually would serve as a model
that can be applied to matters of
urgent concern to public officials and
to private citizens.”

1. Education for citizenship
- the primary objective of the political
science curriculum is to equip
students to discharge the obligations
of democratic citizenship

2. Essential parts of liberal education
- Intelligent, responsible citizenship
can save democracy; ignorance and
negligence can lose it

3. Knowledge and understanding of
government
- the “good” citizen knows how his
government operates, what his rights
and obligations are, who his elected
representatives are, and what they
stand for

 A state is 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.

1. People
- The mass of
the population
living within the
state.

 answers the question, “who governs
whom?”
 no specific number requirement
 “…the state shall neither be too small
nor yet one that seems great but has
no unity.” (Plato)

2. Territory
- demarcated
area that rightly
belongs to the
population

 answers the question, “where?”
 terrestrial, fluvial, maritime and aerial
 should be permanent and large
enough to be self-sufficing

3. Government
- Refers to the
agency to which the
will of the state is
formulated,
expressed, and
carried out.

4. Sovereignty
- May be defined as the supreme
power of the state to command and
enforce obedience to its will from the
people within its jurisdiction and
corollarily to have freedom from
foreign control.

a. Internal – power of the
state to rule within its
territory
b. External – the freedom
of the state to carry
out its activities
without subjection to
or control by other
states.

“The state is a political concept while
a nation is an ethnic concept.”

“A government may change, its form
may change, but the state, as long as
its essential elements are present,
remains the same.”

STATE
 legal/political concept
 one state may consist
of one or more nations
NATION
 ethnic concept
 one nation may be made
up of several states

STATE
 principal
 abstraction
 cannot exist without
the government
 cannot be changed so
long as the elements
are present
GOVERNMENT
 agent
 externalize the will of
the state
 can exist without a
state
 can be changed

As to number of persons exercising sovereign
powers
1. Monarchy – one in which the supreme and
final authority is in the hands of a single
person.
2. Aristocracy – one in which political power is
exercised by a few privileged class
3. Democracy – one in which political power is
exercised by a majority of people.

As to extent of powers by the central government
1. Unitary government – one in which the control
of national and local affairs is exercised by the
central or national government.
2. 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.

As to relationship between the executive and the
legislative branches of the government
1. Parliamentary government – one in which
the state confers upon the legislature the
power to terminate the tenure of office of the
real executive.
2. Presidential government – one in which the
state makes the executive independent of the
legislature as regards his tenure, policies and
acts.

is a written instrument by which the
fundamental powers of the government are
established, limited and defined by which
these powers are distributed among the
several departments/branches for the benefit
of the people.

As to form
1. Brief
2. Broad
3. Definite
As to contents
1. Constitution of
government
2. Constitution of
liberty
3. Constitution of
sovereignty

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

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INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE