Meaning of political science.

Political science is the systematic study of the state and government. The word "political" is
derived from the Greek word polis, meaning a city, or what today would be the equivalent of
sovereign state; the word "science" comes from the Latin word scire, "to know."
1) The science of politics, therefore, has, as its formal object, a basic knowledge and
understanding of the state and of the principles and ideals which underlie its organization and
activities.
2} It is primarily concerned with the association of human beings into a "body politic," or a
political community (one organized under government and law}.
3) It deals with those relations among men and groups which are subject to control by the state,
with the relations of men and groups to the state itself, and with the 1·elations of the state to
other states.

Scope of political science

a) Political theory. --- The entire body of doctrines relating to the origin, form, behavior, and
purposes of the state are dealt with in the study of political theory.
b) Public law. - ·· The (a) organization of governments, (b) the limitations upon government
authority, (c) the powers and duties of governmental offices and officers, and (d) the obligations
of one state to another are handled in the study of public law. In contradistinction to the rules
of private law, which govern the relations among individuals, public law is so specialized that
separate courses are offered in each of its subdivisions - constitutional law, administrative law),
and international law.
(3) Public administration. - In the study of public administration, attention is focused upon the
methods and techniques used in the actual management of state affairs by executive,
legislative, and judicial branches of government.

Interrelationship with other branches of learning

(1) History. -The bond between the political scientist and the historian is obvious in the
observation that "history is past politics and politics present history.'' The political scientist
frequently adopts a "historical approach" and employs knowledge of the past when he seeks to
interpret present and probable developments in political phenomena.
(2) Economics. - - Until late in the 19th century, political science and economics (the study of
the production, distribution, and conservation, and consumption of wealth were coupled under
the name of political economy.
(3) Geography. - Geopolitics (a science concerned with the study of the influences of physical
factors such as population pressures, sources of raw materials, geography, etc., upon domestic
and foreign politics) indicates one approach which a political scientist frequently must adopt to
help explain such phenomena as the early growth of democracy in Great Britain and the United
States and its retarded growth in certain Continental
Europe, and the rise of authoritarian governments in developing countries.
(4) Sociology and anthropology. - The political scientist, the sociologist (who specializes in the
study of "society as a whole"), and the anthropologist (who studies ''mankind'' in relation to
physical, social, and cultural development) are all deeply concerned with the origins and nature
of social control and governmental authority, with the abiding influences of race and culture
upon society, and with the patterns of collective human behavior.
(5) Psychology. - The political scientist as well as the psychologist promotes studies of the
mental and emotional processes motivating the political behavior of individuals and groups.
One of the many topics which the political scientist handles from a "psychological approach" is
that of public opinion, pressure groups, and propaganda.
(6) Philosophy. - 1'he concepts and doctrines of Plato, Aristotle and Locke (and other universal
thinkers about the state) are important to the specialist in academic philosophy and also to the
political scientist. These concepts arc the underlying forces in the framing of constitutions and
laws.
(7) Statistics and logic. -The political theorist must possess a broad scientific background and a
knowledge of current political problems, and he must employ scientific methods in gathering
and evaluating data and in drawing conclusions. These involve a proper application of statistical
procedures for the quantitative measurement of social phenomena and of logical procedures
for the analysis of reasoning.
(8) Jurisprudence. --This branch of public law is concerned with the analysis of existing legal
systems and also with the ethical, historical, sociological, and psychological foundations of law
."'A comprehension of the nature of law (whether the ''natural law" or the ''divine law") and of
statutes enacted by legislatures is indispensable to the political theorist.

Function and importance of political science

(1) The function of political science is to discover the principles that should be adhered to in
public affairs and to study the operations of government in order to demonstrate what is good,
to criticize what is bad or inefficient, and to suggest improvements.
(2) Its findings and conclusions may be of immense practical use to constitution-makers,
legislators, executives, and judges who need models or norms that can be applied to immediate
situations. Again, they may be of immense practical use to individuals who seek to understand
the state in which they live.
(3) The study of political science deals also with problems of social welfare, governmental
economic programs, international cooperation, and a wide range of other matters that are
urgent concern to public officials and to private citizens.

Goal in the study of political science courses

(1) Education for citizenship. - In answer, it should be made clear that the primary objective of
the political science curriculum is education for citizenship. The preparation of students for
careers in politics, law, teaching, the civil service, and the Foreign Service (though vitally
important) is secondary to the task of equipping them to discharge the obligations of
democratic citizenship, which grow constantly heavier in the modern world.
(2) Essential parts of liberal education. _ .. Most political science courses should be viewed as
essential parts of liberal education, bearing no materialistic price tag and promising no job
security. Such shop-worn adjectives as "practical" and "cultural" have no relevance here.
Intelligent, responsible citizenship can save democracy; ignorance and negligence can lose it.
(3) Knowledge and understanding of' government. -·· Political science seeks to gather and
impart this knowledge and understanding. The good citizen who behave himself and votes
regularly is no longer enough. He must also be the citizen who knows the answers. He must
know how his .government really operates, what interests and forces are behind particular
policies, what the results of such policies are likely to be, what his rights and obligations are,
who his elected representatives are, and what they stand for.
 CONCEPTS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT

Meaning of state.
A stale 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. The Philippines is a state.

Elements of state. .
The modern state has four (4) essential elements. They are:
(1) People.- This refers to the mass of population living within the state. Without people
there can be no fimctionarie8 to govern an<l no subjects to be governed. There is no
requirement as to the number of people that should compose a state. But it should be
neither too small nor too large: small enough to be well-governed and large enough to
be self-sufficing.
(2) Territory.-It includes not only the lands over which the jurisdiction of the state extends
but also the rivers and lakes therein, a certain area of the sea which abuts upon its
coasts and the air space above it. Thus, the domain of the state may be described as
terrestrial, fluvial, maritime, and aerial.
(3) Government.- It refers to the agency through which the will of the state is formulated,
expressed and carried out. The word is sometimes used to refer to the person or
aggregate of those persons in whose hands are placed for the time being the function of
political control. This "body of men" is usually spoken of as "administration." The
ordinary citizens of a country are a part of the state, but are not part of the government;
and
(4) Sovereignty. - The term may be defined as the supreme power of the state to command
and enforce obedience to its people within its jurisdiction and corollarily to have
freedom from foreign control. It has therefore·; two manifestations:
(a)Internal or the power of the stat to rule within its territory
(b) External or the freedom of the state to carry out its activities without subjection to or
control by other states. External sovereignty is often referred to as INDEPENDENCE.

Origin of States
There are several theories concerning the origin of state among which are:
(1) Divine right theory. - It holds that the state is of divine creation and the ruler is
ordained by God to govern the people. Reference has been made by advocates of
this theory to the laws which Moses received at Mount Sinai;
(2) Necessity or force theory - It maintains that states must have been created through
force by some great warriors who imposed their will upon the weak;
(3) Paternalistic theory- It attributes the origin of states to the enlargement of the family
which remained under the authority of the father or mother. By natural stages, the
family grew into a clan, then developed into a tribe which broadened into a nation,
and the nation became a state; and
(4) Social contract theory-- It asserts that the early states must have been formed by
deliberate and voluntary compact among the people to form a society and organize
government for their common good. This theory justifies the right of the people to
revolt against a bad ruler.
It is not known exactly which of the above theories is the correct one. History, however, has
shown that the elements of all the theories have played an important part in the formation and
development of states.

State distinguished from nation.

Nation should not be confused with state a5 they are not the same.
(1) The state is a political concept, while nation is an ethnic concept. A NATION is a group of
people bound together by certain characteristics such as common social origin, language,
customs, and traditions, and who believe that they are one and distinct from others. The
term is more strictly synonymous with PEOPLE.
(2) A state is not subject to external control while a nation may or may not be independent of
external control; and
(3) A single state may consist of one or more nations or peoples and conversely, a single nation
may be made up of several states.

State distinguished from government.

In common speech, they are usually regarded as identical. As ordinarily, the acts of the
government (within the limits of the delegation of powers) are the acts of the state, the former
is meant when the latter is mentioned, and vice versa.

The government is the only agency through which the state expresses its will. A state cannot
exist without a government but it is possible to have a government without a state. Thus, we
had various governments at different periods of our history, from pre-Spanish times to the
present. There was no Philippine state during those periods when we were under foreign
domination.

Purpose and necessity o1 government.

(1) Advancement of the public welfare. - Government exists and should continue to exist for the
benefit-of the people governed. It is necessary for the protection of society and its members,
the security of persons and property, the administration of justice, the preservation of the state
from external danger, and the advancement of the physical, economic, social and cultural well-
being of the people.
(2) Consequence of absence. - Government exists to do these things which by their very nature,
it is better equipped to administer for the public welfare than any private individual or group of
individuals.
The Department of Agriculture 12 participated in the 1st Quarter Nationwide
Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED).

The quarterly NSED aims to evaluate the effectiveness of contingency plans and
protocols in relation to earthquake scenarios and other similar events.