UCSP LESSON 1-4

• Politics is the activity through which people make, preserve, and amend the general rules under which they live - Andrew Heywood
• In the Philippine setting, politics is power, popularity, propriety, price, and perpetuity
• Country: a political entity with its own government, territory, name, and symbols representing its people, heritage, and culture
• National identity is the sense of a nation as a cohesive whole, represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language
• Sovereignty is freedom from external control or influence, the supreme authority within a territory
• Politics and governance are by-products of sovereignty; without sovereignty, they cannot exist
• Political ideologies are systems of beliefs about politics, aiming to provide a foundation for political organization
• All political ideologies have three specific features

  
  

  1. Realistic interpretation of society as it is currently

  2. Idealized interpretation of society

  3. Action plan on how to create a society reflecting citizens' needs and wants
• Three main types of political ideology: conservatism, liberalism, socialism
• Conservatism emphasizes the value of traditional institutions and practices
• Liberalism considers protecting and enhancing individual freedom as the central problem of politics
• Socialism calls for public ownership or control of property and resources, emphasizing cooperation and benefit for all members of society
• Different forms of government include democracy, federalism, monarchy, communism, dictatorship
• Culture refers to shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that characterize a group or society
• Culture shapes how people view the world, interact, and is transmitted through socialization and education
• Culture is learned, adaptive, shared, symbolic, integrated, and dynamic
• Culture is composed of interrelated elements that are mutually reinforcing and coherent, including symbols, values, beliefs, and rituals
• Culture is always changing and evolving over time, influenced by historical events, globalization, migration, and other factors that shape its development
• Xenocentrism is the belief that another culture is superior to one's own, while ethnocentrism is when one views their own culture as the best and only proper way to behave and adapt
• Cultural relativism is the principle that all cultures must be understood in terms of their own values and beliefs, not by the standards of another
• Socialization is the process by which individuals learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of their culture or society, starting in early childhood and continuing throughout life
• Socialization helps individuals develop a sense of self, learn societal values and norms, and acquire the necessary skills to function effectively in their social environment
• Socialization involves two key components: social control (mechanisms used by society to regulate and enforce norms and values) and social learning (acquisition of knowledge and skills through observation and interaction with others)
• Formal learning involves the explicit teaching of values, beliefs, and norms through institutions like schools and religious organizations, while informal learning occurs through social interactions and observing others' behavior
• Agents of socialization, such as family, schools, peer groups, media, religion, and work, play a key role in shaping an individual's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors
• Self-concept, also known as self-identity or self-image, refers to the way an individual thinks about and perceives themselves, including beliefs, values, attitudes, and personality traits
• Sigmund Freud's theory of socialization states that the self is a social product, influenced by natural impulsive instincts in conflict with societal constraints, and personality is influenced by others, especially parents
• Sigmund Freud's three major systems of personality are the ID (biological component driven by basic needs), EGO (mediator between needs and the real world), and SUPEREGO (moral arm representing societal rules and values)
• Charles Horton Cooley's Looking-Glass Self Theory explains that the self is a product of social interactions, where individuals imagine how they appear to others, interpret judgments, and respond based on these interpretations
• Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Development considers the impact of external factors, culture, and society on personality development from childhood to adulthood, with crises occurring at each stage of development
• Erving Goffman's Presentation of Self theory includes elements like impression management, face-work, and the comparison of roles in life to those in the theater with a stage and a backstage
• Ascribed statuses are assigned at birth or another stage in the life cycle, while achieved statuses are attained through personal effort, merit, or choice
• The word ideology came about during the French Revolution and was coined by Antoine Tarcy.
• Democracy: A government system with supreme power placed in the hands of the people.
• Federalism: A mode of political organization that unites separate states or other polities within an overarching political system in a way that allows each to maintain its own integrity.
• Monarchy: State power is held by a single family that inherits rule from one generation to the next.
• Communism: A government system usually based on an ideology of communism taught by Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin
• Dictatorship: A form of government where a single person, a dictator, has absolute power over the state.
• CULTURE - refers to the shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that characterize a group or society.
• IT IS LEARNED: Culture is not innate but rather learned through socialization, education, and experience. It is transmitted from one generation to the next through language, traditions, and customs.