GESS 2

• State


  A political association that establishes sovereign jurisdiction within defined territorial borders, characterized by its monopoly of legitimate violence
• Elements of the State


  • People
  • Territory
  • Government
  • Sovereignty
• People


  The mass of population living within the state
• Territory


  The physical and territorial domain of the state, which includes the terrestrial, fluvial, maritime and aerial domains
• Government


  The mechanism through which ordered rule is maintained; the machinery for making and enforcing collective decisions for society and elsewhere
• Sovereignty


  The supreme power of the state to command and enforce obedience to its will from people within its jurisdiction, and to have freedom from external control
• Voluntaristic Theories on the Origin of the State


  • Automatic theory
  • Hydraulic Hypothesis
  • Social Contract theory
  • Paternalistic/patriarchal theory
• Coercive Theories on the Origin of the State


  • Force, and not enlightened self-interest, is the mechanism by which political evolution has led, step by step, from autonomous villages to the state
• Circumscription Theory


  The state is a predictable response of individuals and their communities to certain specific cultural, demographic, and ecological conditions
• State


  It is a political concept, is not subject to external control or it possesses independence, may consist of one or more nations or peoples
• Nation


  It is an ethnic or racial concept, it may or may not be independent of external control, may be made up of several states
• Government


  It is only an agency through which the state expresses its will; it can be changed at anytime, it can exist without there being a state
• Forms of Government based on 'Who rules?' and 'Who benefits?'


  • Tyranny
  • Oligarchy
  • Democracy
  • Monarchy
  • Aristocracy
  • Polity
• Forms of Government based on the Number of Persons exercising sovereign powers


  • Monarchy
  • Aristocracy
  • Oligarchy
  • Democracy
• Forms of Government based on the Distribution of Powers between central and local governments


  • Unitary government
  • Federal government
  • Confederation
• Forms of Government based on the Relationship between the Executive and Legislative Branches


  • Parliamentary government
  • Presidential government
  • Modified Presidential - Parliamentary system
• Constitution


  A set of rules that establish the duties, powers and functions of the institutions of government and define the relationship between the state and the individual
• Classification of Constitutions


  • Conventional or enacted
  • Cumulative or evolved
  • Written
  • Unwritten
  • Rigid or inelastic
  • Flexible or elastic
  • Constitution of government
  • Constitution of liberty
  • Constitution of sovereignty
• Distinctions between Constitution and Statute


  • Constitution is legislation direct from the people, merely states the general framework, intended to govern the future, is the supreme law
  • Statute is legislation from the people's representatives, provides details, intended to meet existing conditions, must conform with the constitution
• Amending or Revising the Philippine Constitution


  1. By Congress acting as a constituent assembly

  2. By a constitutional convention

  3. By the people directly, through initiative
• Philippine Constitutions


  • Malolos Constitution (Jan. 20, 1899)
  • 1935 Constitution (1935-1973)
  • 1973 Constitution (1973-1986)
  • 1987 Constitution (February 2, 1987)
• Basic Principles underlying the Philippine Constitution


  • Recognition of the aid of Almighty God
  • Sovereignty of the people
  • Renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy
  • Supremacy of civilian authority over the military
  • Separation of church and state
  • Recognition of the importance of the family and the vital role of the youth
  • Guarantee of human rights
  • Government through suffrage
  • Separation of powers
  • Independence of the judiciary
  • Guarantee of local autonomy
  • High sense of public service morality and accountability of public officers
  • Nationalization of natural resources and certain private enterprises affected with public interest
  • Non-suability of the State
  • Rule of the majority
  • Government of laws and not of men