Philippine Politics and Governance Module 1 PDF

Republic of the Philippines Department of Education REGION IV-A CALABARZON SCHOOLS DIVISION OF BACOOR CITY SHS IN SAN NICHOLAS III, BACOOR CITY SAN NICOLAS III, CITY OF...

Republic of the Philippines Department of Education REGION IV-A CALABARZON SCHOOLS DIVISION OF BACOOR CITY SHS IN SAN NICHOLAS III, BACOOR CITY SAN NICOLAS III, CITY OF BACOOR, CAVITE Selected Readings in Philippine Politics and Governance Module 1: What is Politics? Most Essential Learning Competency (MELC-Week 1) Explain the concept, relationship, and importance of politics, governance and government. DISCLAIMER: NO PART OF THIS READING MATERIAL SHALL BE POSTED, REPRODUCED, OR COPIED IN ANY FORM - PRINTED, ELECTRONIC, OR OTHERWISE WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERSMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR. PARTS OF THIS READING MATERIAL HAVE BEEN LIFTED OR COPIED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES; THE AUTHOR INVOKES THE FAIR USE PROVISION IN THE INTELLECUAL PROPERTY LAW. ALL CONTENTS THEREOF IS TO BE USED EXCLUSIVELY AS PART OF CLASSROOM TEACHING OF THE AUTHOR AND FOR THAT PURPOSE ALONE (Author DO NOT claim intellectual ownership of the copied text). FURTHER, IT IS STRESSED THAT NO MONETARY AMOUNT OR CONSIDERATION IS GAINED FROM THIS MATERIAL. THE ONLY CONSIDERATION GAINED HERE, IF THERE IS, IS AS IT SERVED AS A TEACHING AND LEARNING AID IN THE CLASSROOM TEACHING OF THE AUTHOR OF THE SUBJECT PHILIPPINE POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE. School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected] INTRODUCTION: Politics, in its broadest sense, is the activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules under which they live. Although politics is also an academic subject (sometimes indicated by the use of ‘Politics’ with a capital P), it is then clearly the study of this activity. Politics is thus inextricably linked to the phenomena of conflict and cooperation. On the one hand, the existence of rival opinions, different wants, competing needs and opposing interests guarantees disagreement about the rules under which people live. On the other hand, people recognize that, in order to influence these rules or ensure that they are upheld, they must work with others… Politics is far more than the workings of government or how a state is run – it is also to do with what we as individuals believe and the kind of society, we want to live in. Most of us learn about politics first of all from our family and friends. Later we may read or hear about current affairs online or through traditional news media. School lessons on citizenship and civics can help us understand the issues behind the news, in preparation for adult life. However, politics is about much more than a knowledge of facts and events. It is also about our beliefs and values, and how these are represented by political parties and pressure groups. If you want to change something in the world – whether that means fighting for a local cause, such as better bicycle routes, or tackling a global issue, such as inequality – you are showing an interest in politics. Our background, culture, or where we grow up will have a bearing on the choices, we end up making and the part we will vote for. But this is not the whole picture. Some of the most important issues of the day divide young and old. Just think of Greta Thunberg, a Swedish student challenging the most powerful world leaders because the climate emergency will dominate the lives and futures of younger people. Young people tend to be less nostalgic for the past and more hopeful for the future, too. For that reason, politicians in some countries are considering lowering the voting age – why shouldn’t 16-year-olds have a voice that counts? Politics is not just about debates in congress or what’s happening in the evening news. It’s also about how decisions are made in our daily lives. Politics is about how we organize societies, what rules should be, and who should hold authority. On a simple level it’s about how two or more people work together, overcome disagreements, and make decisions. This might involve a large group of people like a national government, or a small gathering such as your local basketball team. There are politics in everyday activities – planning a picnic, for example. For the picnic to go well, people need to agree on their aims and include as many people as possible in the decisions. It is also helpful to choose someone or some people to take charge, to set rules, and sort out arguments. Otherwise, there may be chaos! School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected] DEVELOPMENT: Politics is defined in such different ways: as the exercise of power, the science of government, the making of collective decisions, the allocation of scarce resources, the practice of deception and manipulation, and so on. Politics as the art of government. ‘Politics is not a science... but an art’, Chancellor Bismarck is reputed to have told the German Reichstag. The art Bismarck had in mind was the art of government, the exercise of control within society through the making and enforcement of collective decisions. This is perhaps the classical definition of politics, developed from the original meaning of the term in Ancient Greece. Politics as public affairs. A second and broader conception of politics moves it beyond the narrow realm of government to what is thought of as ‘public life’ or ‘public affairs’. In other words, the distinction between ‘the political’ and ‘the non-political’ coincides with the division between an essentially public sphere of life and what can be thought of as a private sphere. Such a view of politics is often traced back to the work of the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle. In Politics, Aristotle declared that ‘man is by nature a political animal’, by which he meant that it is only within a political community that human beings can live the ‘good life’. From this viewpoint, then, politics is an ethical activity concerned with creating a ‘just society’; it is what Aristotle called the ‘master science’. Politics as compromise and consensus. The third conception of politics relates not to the arena within which politics is conducted but to the way in which decisions are made. Specifically, politics is seen as a particular means of resolving conflict: that is, by compromise, conciliation and negotiation, rather than through force and naked power. This is what is implied when politics is portrayed as ‘the art of the possible’. Such a definition is inherent in the everyday use of the term. For instance, the description of a solution to a problem as a ‘political’ solution implies peaceful debate and arbitration, as opposed to what is often called a ‘military’ solution. Once again, this view of politics has been traced back to the writings of Aristotle and, in particular, to his belief that what he called ‘polity’ is the ideal system of government, as it is ‘mixed’, in the sense that it combines both aristocratic and democratic features. One of the leading modern exponents of this view is Bernard Crick. In his classic study In Defence of Politics, Crick offered the following definition: Politics is the activity by which differing interests within a given unit of rule are conciliated by giving them a share in power in proportion to their importance to the welfare and the survival of the whole community. Politics as power. The fourth definition of politics is both the broadest and the most radical. Rather than confining politics to a particular sphere (the government, the state or the ‘public’ realm), this view sees politics at work in all social activities and in every corner of human existence. As Adrian Leftwich proclaimed in What is Politics? The Activity and Its Study (2004), ‘politics is at the heart of all collective social activity, formal and informal, public and private, in all human groups, institutions and societies’. In this sense, politics takes place at every level of social interaction; it can School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected] be found within families and amongst small groups of friends just as much as amongst nations and on the global stage. Studying Politics. Social sciences – including political science – begin from stories, accounts, exchanges of everyday life, using these as the raw material for social science but then go beyond the everyday life accounts. As the name (political science) suggests, the ultimate objective for social science is to build a science – a body of knowledge that is deemed to be reliable for being correct and useful as explanation of events occur the way they do. APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF POLITICS Traditional. The origins of political analysis date back to Ancient Greece and a tradition usually referred to as ‘political philosophy’. This involved a preoccupation with essentially ethical, prescriptive or normative questions, reflecting a concern with what ‘should’, ‘ought’ or ‘must’ be brought about, rather than with what ‘is’. Plato and Aristotle are usually identified as the founding fathers of this tradition. Their ideas resurfaced in the writings of medieval theorists such as Augustine (354–430) and Aquinas (1225–74). The central theme of Plato’s work, for instance, was an attempt to describe the nature of the ideal society, which in his view took the form of a benign dictatorship dominated by a class of philosopher kings. Such writings have formed the basis of what is called the ‘traditional’ approach to politics. Empirical. Empirical or Descriptive political analysis acquired its philosophical underpinning from the doctrine of empiricism, which spread from the seventeenth century onwards through the work of theorists such as John Locke (see p. 31) and David Hume (1711–76). The doctrine of empiricism advanced the belief that experience is the only basis of knowledge and that, therefore, all hypotheses and theories should be tested by a process of observation. By the nineteenth century, such ideas had developed into what became known as ‘positivism’, an intellectual movement particularly associated with the writings of Auguste Comte (1798–1857). This doctrine proclaimed that the social sciences, and, for that matter, all forms of philosophical enquiry, should adhere strictly to the methods of the natural sciences. Once science was perceived to be the only reliable means of disclosing truth, the pressure to develop a science of politics became irresistible. Behavioralism or Positivism. The belief that social theories should be constructed only on the basis of observable behavior, providing quantifiable data for research. Behavioralism, however, came under growing pressure from the 1960s onwards. In the first place, it was claimed that behavioralism had significantly constrained the scope of political analysis, preventing it from going beyond what was directly observable. Although behavioural analysis undoubtedly produced, and continues to produce, invaluable insights in fields such as voting studies, a narrow obsession with quantifiable data threatens to reduce the discipline of politics to little else. More worryingly, it inclined a generation of political scientists to turn their backs on the entire tradition of normative political thought. Concepts such as ‘liberty’, ‘equality’, ‘justice’ and ‘rights’ were sometimes discarded as being meaningless because they were not empirically verifiable entities. Dissatisfaction with behavioralism grew as interest in School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected] normative questions revived in the 1970s, as reflected in the writings of theorists such as John Rawls and Robert Nozick. Rational Choice Theory. By no means, however, has the rational-choice approach to political analysis been universally accepted. While its supporters claim that it introduces greater rigor into the discussion of political phenomena, critics have questioned its basic assumptions. It may, for instance, overestimate human rationality in that it ignores the fact that people seldom possess a clear set of preferred goals and rarely make decisions in the light of full and accurate knowledge. Furthermore, in proceeding from an abstract model of the individual, rational-choice theory pays insufficient attention to social and historical factors, failing to recognize, amongst other things, that human self-interestedness may be socially conditioned, and not merely innate. (New) Institutionalism. Old institutionalism focused on the rules, procedures and formal organization of government, and employed methods akin to those used in the study of law and history. Interest in it was revived from the 1980s onwards by the emergence of what was called ‘new institutionalism’. While remaining faithful to the core institutionalist belief that ‘institutions matter’, in the sense that political structures are thought to shape political behaviour, new institutionalism has revised our understanding of what constitutes an ‘institution’ in a number of respects. Political institutions are no longer equated with political organizations; they are thought of not as ‘things’ but as sets of ‘rules’, which guide or constrain the behavior of individual actors. These rules, moreover, are as likely to be informal as formal, policy-making processes sometimes being shaped more by unwritten conventions or understandings than by formal arrangements. Apart from anything else, this can help to explain why institutions are often difficult to reform, transform or replace. Finally, rather than viewing institutions as independent entities, in which case they exist almost outside of time and space, new institutionalists emphasize that institutions are ‘embedded’ in a particular normative and historical context. Thus, just as actors within an institutional setting are socialized to accept key rules and procedures, the institution itself operates within a larger and more fundamental body of assumptions and practices. METHODS OF STUDYING POLITICAL SCIENCE Of the methods employed for the study of political institutions and of political problems, frequent use is made of the experimental method, the historical method, the comparative or observational method, the analytical method, the psychological method, the juridical method, the philosophic method, the sociological method and the scientific method. In some cases, use is made exclusively of one of them, depending upon the point of view taken; but generally and more profitably, a combination of some or all of the methods is called into play by the student of politics, government, and governance. (Aruego, 1973) Experimental Method. The experimental method is adopted for the study of political problems more than of existing political institutions. This method of study seeks to discover by a series of experiments the rule of action or the political machinery that is best adapted to or workable under given conditions; or conversely, the conditions School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected] which are necessary for the most profitable use of given political institutions or for the adoption of certain laws and regulations. Historical Method. The historical method, in the words of Frederick Pollock, “seeks an explanation of what institutions are and are tending to be, more in the knowledge of what they are, than in the analysis of them as they stand.” As a method of study for existing political institutions and practices, it traces their origin and follows their development, taking note of and evaluating the forces and influences that have directed their course; as a method of study for political problems, it is a particular form of the comparative method, by which the solutions are arrived at in the light of past experiences. Comparative Method. The comparative method says Garner, “aims through the study of existing politics or those which have existed in the past to assemble a definite body of material from which the investigator by selection, comparison, and elimination may discover the ideal type and progressive forces of political history.” By the comparative method, the student of political phenomena, therefore, considers contemporaneous institutions or practices or those at different periods of history in an attempt to reach general conclusions by tracing similar results to similar causes, which conclusions can serve if not as prescriptions, at least as signposts, in solving certain problems. By this method, the student of political institutions and practices draw out their points of similarities or of differences, in different countries where they are used contemporaneously or in different periods of history. Analytical Method. The analytical method is another approach to the study of political institutions and methods. It dissects a political institution into its different parts and makes a detailed study of each, showing their interrelation. Psychological Method. The psychological method is a method of study primarily for political phenomena. It is a method of study in the passions that have brought about political movements, actions, or other phenomena of politics. Juridical Method. The juridical method, to quote Garner, “treats society, not as a social phenomenon, but as purely juridical regime, as ensemble of public law, rights, and obligations, founded on a system of pure logic and reason.” It assumes the existence of the state and presents the network of law that envelops the body politic. It analyzes public law relations, the establishment of the juristic nature of the state, and the general superior juridical principles that govern the state. This method takes up the legal relations between the officials of the government and private citizens, and those among the officials themselves. Philosophic or Ideal Method. By the philosophic or ideal method. One builds up his ideal of political institutions, methods, or practices. The political thinker sets up in an imaginative way what should be or ought to be. Sociological or Biological Method. The sociological method considers that the state as a social organism, composed of individuals. From the attributes of the individual thereof, they infer the attributes of the state. The biological method draws analogies between the state and a living organism. School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected] ENGAGEMENT: The word government is derived from the Latin “gubernaculum,” a rudder, gubernare, to steer, direct, control. Government is “that institution or aggregate of institutions by which an independent society makes and carries out those rules of action which are necessary to enable men to live in a social state, or which are imposed upon the people forming that society by those who possess the power or authority or prescribing them. Government is the aggregate of authorities which rules a society. As used in the Administrative Code, the term The Government of the Philippines, refers to the corporate governmental entity through which the functions of government are exercised throughout the Philippines, including, save as the contrary appears for the context, the various arms through which political authority is made effective in said territory, whether pertaining to the central government or the provincial or municipal branches or other form of local government. (Aruego, 1973) Government exist and continue to exist for the benefit of the people governed. It is necessary for the protection of the society, the administration of justice, and preservation of the state from external danger; advancement of the physical, economic, social, and cultural well-being of the people. (De Leon and De Leon, 2011) It could be subsumed that the Government may be viewed, generally, it using two lenses. The first one, as a construct, it is an aggregate of authorities (executive, legislative, judiciary) to rule society. But in democratic states, like our county, it must be remembered that sovereignty resides in the people therefore the power to rule comes from the people and it is on exercised collectively by government in representation of the people. With this in mind, the second lens, is that as an element of the state, government acts as an agent for the people, to cater to its needs. The government as a structure differs from one country to another, there is no exact replication of government structure that could be found anywhere in the world. Albeit, there are similarities but a country’s government is unique unto its own. BASIC CLASSIFICATION OF GOVERNMENTS According to the number of persons holding sovereign power: o Monarchy/Tyranny – A government is monarchial when sovereignty resides in one person whose word is law, all political officers and organs being his agents, and all acts of government being his acts. It may be absolute or limited, absolute, when the exercise of sovereign power is despotic, dictated solely by the personal whims of the sovereign, and limited, when the ruling sovereign choose to be guided by a body of rules and customs, which are generally embodied in a written constitution. o Aristocracy/Oligarchy – A government is aristocratic when sovereignty resides in, and is exercised by, a special and usually small class of persons whose privilege arises from birth, wealth, superior wisdom, or priestly function. School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected]  o Democracy/Polity – A democratic government is one in which the exercise of sovereign powers – or, rather full and direct control over the agencies that yield theses powers – rests with the general masses of the people. It may be a primary democratic government or a representative democratic government in which latter case it is called a republic. According to the relationship between the national and local governments: o Unitary – A unitary government is one which the powers of government are concentrated in one supreme organ from which all local governing authorities derive their existence and powers. o Federal – A federal government is a form of government in which governmental powers are by the common sovereign distributed between a central government and the local governments, each being supreme within its own sphere. According to the relationship between executive and legislative branches: o Parliamentary – A parliamentary government – the terms “ministerial”, “responsible”, and “cabinet” are often used synonymously with it – “is the system in which the real executive – the cabinet or ministry – is immediately and legally responsible to the legislature or one branch of it (usually the more popular chamber) for its legislative and administrative acts, and mediately or politically responsible to the electorate, while the titular or nominal executive – the chief of state – occupies a position of irresponsibility.” o Presidential – A presidential government is a form of government “in which the executive is constitutionally independent of the legislature as regards his tenure and to a large extent as regards his policies and acts.” It rests upon the principle that the executive is independent of the legislature, not owing the office to the latter, therefore, not removable by it. In most presidential governments, presidents serving both as the head of government and the head of state is removable from office through the process of impeachment. Thinking about it, governance as a concept is has a wider scope than the term government. Government is just a parcel in the entire governance paradigm. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific has this to say about governance: The concept of governance is not new. It is as old as human civilization. Simply put governance means: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not). Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance. Since governance is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented, an analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making and implementing the decisions are made and the formal and informal structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected] decision. Government is one of the actors in governance. Other actors involved in governance vary depending on the level of government under discussion… Good governance has eight (8) major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE Participation. Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good governance. Participation could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. It is important to point out that representative democracy does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable in society would be taken into consideration in decision making. Participation needs to be informed and organized. This means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an organized civil society on the other hand. Rule of Law. Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartiality. It also requires full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force. Transparency. Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations. It also means that information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their environment. It also means that enough information is provided and that is provided in easily understandable forms and media. Responsiveness. Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe. Consensus oriented. There are several actors and as many viewpoints in a given society. Good governance requires mediation of the different interests in society to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development. This can only result from an understanding of historical, cultural, and social contexts of a given society or community. Equity and inclusiveness. A society’s well-being depends on ensuring that all its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, to have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being. Effectiveness and efficiency. Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected] of resources and their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment. Accountability. Accountability is a key requirement of good governance. Not only governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders. Who is accountable to whom varies depending on whether decisions or actions taken are internal or external to an organization or institution. In general, an organization or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law. References: Principles of Political Science (1973) by Aruego and Aruego-Torres The Discipline of Political Science (2017) by Athena Lydia Casambre Politics (2013) by Andrew Heywood Politics Is (2020) by Simon Adams, et.al. VYTRUVIUZ JACOBY L. BERMUDA HUMSS Subject Teacher Philippine Politics and Governance School: SHS in San Nicholas III, Bacoor City Address: Garnet St. Green Valley, San Nicolas III, City of Bacoor, Cavite Telephone No: (046) 894 2825 Email: [email protected]