Concepts of State and Government Flashcards
This deck questions the meaning, elements, and Origins of States. Furthermore, it also distinguishes the state from the nation and government. It also raises questions regarding the Philippine government's meaning, purpose, forms, and classification.
What is the 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 considered a state.
What are the four (4) elements of state?
(1) People, (2) Territory, (3) Government, (4) Sovereignty
How are “People” an essential element in a modern state?
Without people there can be no functionaries to govern and no subjects to be governed.
How is “Territory” an essential element in a modern state?
It includes not only the fixed portion of land over which the jurisdiction of the state extends (Territorial domain) but also the rivers and lakes therein, a certain area of the sea that abuts upon its coasts (fluvial and maritime domain), and the air space above the land and the waters (aerial domain).
How is the “Government” an essential element in a modern state?
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.
How is “Sovereignty” an essential element in a modern state?
The term may be defined as the supreme power of the state to command and enforce obedience to its will from people within its jurisdiction and corollarily, to have freedom from foreign control. It has, therefore, two (2) manifestations:
(a) Internal or the power of the state 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.”
What are the four (4) origins of states? (several theories concerning the origin of states)
(1) Divine right theory, (2) Necessity or force theory, (3) Paternalistic theory, (4) Social contract theory
What is 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
What is 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
What is Paternalistic theory?
It attributes the origin of states to the enlargement of the family, which remained under the father’s or mother’s authority. 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
What is Social Contract theory?
It asserts that the early states must have been formed by a deliberate and voluntary compact among the people to form a society and organize a government for their common good.
This theory justifies the right of the people to revolt against bad rule.
How do we distinguish State from nation?
The state is a political concept, while the 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, who believe they are one and distinct from others. The term nation is more strictly synonymous with “people.”
A state is not subject to external control; while a nation may or may not be independent of external control, a single state may consist of one or more nations or peoples, and conversely, a single nation may be made up of several states.
In common usage, however, the two (2) terms are often used synonymously. The Constitution uses them interchangeably.
How do we distinguish state from government?
The government is only the agency through which the state articulates its will. The government is the agent, while the state is the principal.
A state cannot exist without a government, but it is possible to have a government without a state.
A government may change, it’s from may change, but the state, as long as it’s essential elements are present, remains the same.
What are the two purpose and necessities of the government?
(1) Advancement of the public welfare, (2) Consequence of absence
How is “advancement of the public welfare” a necessity for the government?
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, dealings of the state with foreign powers (constituent functions), and the advancement of the physical, economic, social, and cultural well-being of the people (ministrant functions).
How is “Consequence of absence” a necessity for the government?
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.
It is obvious that without an organized structure of government, anarchy, and disorder, and a general feeling of fear and insecurity will prevail in society, progress and development will not be possible, and values taken for granted in a free modern society, such as truth, freedom, justice, equality, rule of law, and human dignity can never be enjoyed.
What are the forms of government?
(1) The principal forms:
Monarchy
(a) Absolute Monarchy
(b) Limited Monarchy
Aristocracy
Democracy
(a) Direct or pure democracy
(b) Indirect, representative, or republican democracy
(2) Powers exercised by the Central or National Government
(a) Unitary government
(b) Federal government
(3) Relationship between the executive and the legislative branches of the government:
(a) Parliamentary government
(b) Presidential government
What is Monarchy?
Refers to when the supreme and final authority is in the hands of a single person without regard to the source of his election or the nature or duration of his tenure
Monarchies are further classified into: (1) Absolute monarchy & (2) Limited monarchy
What is Absolute Monarchy?
Refers to when the ruler rules by divine right
What is limited Monarchy?
Refers to which the ruler rules in accordance with a constitution
What is Aristocracy?
It refers to a political power exercised by a few privileged classes, known as an aristocracy or oligarchy.
What is Democracy?
Democracy refers to a political power that is exercised by a majority of the people.
Democratic governments are further classified into: (1) Direct or pure democracy and (2) Indirect, representative, or republican democracy
What is Direct or pure democracy?
It refers to which the will of the state is formulated or expressed directly and immediately through the people in a mass meeting or primary assembly rather than through the medium of delegates or representatives chosen to act for them
What is Indirect, representative, or republican democracy?
It refers to the will of the state being formulated and expressed through the agency of a relatively small and select body of persons chosen by the people to act as their representatives.
What is a unitary government?
It refers to which the central or national government controls national and local affairs.
What is federal government?
It refers to when the powers of the government are divided between two (2) sets of organs, one for national affairs and the other for local affairs, each organ being supreme within its own sphere.
Example: The United States is a federal government
What is Parliamentary government?
It refers to when the state confers upon the legislature the power to terminate the tenure of office of the real executive.
Under this system, the Cabinet or ministry is immediately and legally responsible to the legislature and immediately or politically responsible to the electorate. At the same time, the titular or nominal executive - the chief of state - occupies a position of irresponsibility.
What is a Presidential government?
It refers to when the state makes the executive constitutionally independent of the legislature as regards his tenure and, to a large extent, as regards his policies and acts and furnishes him with sufficient powers to prevent the legislature from teaching upon the sphere marked by the constitution as executive independence and prerogative.
What is the classification of the Philippine Government?
The Philippine government is a representative democracy, a unitary and presidential government with a separation of powers.
It also embodies some aspects of pure democracy, such as, for instance, the constitutional provision on initiative and referendum. (See Art. VI, Sec. 32.)
