introduction to political science

Meaning of 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.

Etymological definition
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)

The Parthenon atop the Acropolis

Etymological definition
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

Scope of Political Science
Political Theory
Public Law
Public Administration

Interrelationship with other branched of learning
History
Economics
Geography
Sociology and Anthropology
Psychology
Philosophy
Statistics and Logic
Jurisprudence

Function and importance of Political Science
“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.”

Goal in the study of political science
Education for citizenship
- the primary objective of the political science curriculum is to equip students to discharge the obligations of democratic citizenship

Goal in the study of political science
Essential parts of liberal education
- Intelligent, responsible citizenship can save democracy; ignorance and negligence can lose it

Essential parts of liberal education
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

B. Concepts of State and Government

Meaning of State
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.
The Philippines is a state.

Elements of a state
People
- The mass of the population living within the state.

“people”
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)

Elements of a state
Territory
- demarcated area that rightly belongs to the population

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

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

Elements of a state
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.

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

Origin of states
Divine right theory
Necessity or force theory
Paternalistic theory
Social contract theory

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

State distinguished from nation
“ A state is not subject to external control while a nation may or may not be independent of external control.”

State distinguished from nation
“ A single state may consist of one or more nations or people and conversely, a single nation may be made up of several states.”

State distinguished from government
“…they are usually regarded as identical. As ordinarily, the acts of the government are the acts of the state.”

State distinguished from government
“A state cannot exist without a government, but it is possible to have a government without a state.”

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