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Elements of state.
The modern state has four (4) essential elements. They are:
(1) People. This refers to the inhabitants living within the state. Without
people there can be no functionaries to govern and no subjects to be governed.
There is no requirement as to the number of people that should compose a state.
Ideally, it should be neither too small nor too large: small enough to be wellgoverned and large enough to be self-sufficing. 15
Reputedly the smallest state in point of population is the Vatican. Its estimated
900 citizens, mainly clerics and some Swiss guards, are ruled by Pope. 16 The island
Republic of Nauru17 has a total population of only about 9,000. China is the largest
in point of population placed at 1,314,480,000 at the end of 2006 according to
Chinas National Bureau of Statistics.
The Philippines is estimated to have a population of about 88,574,614 as of
August 1, 2007, 18 composed mostly of Malays and Chinese;
Different meanings as used in the 1987 Constitution:
Nationality
Legal or juristic
Ethnic or racial
Absolute, Innate
(2) Territory. 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 which abuts upon its coasts (fluvial and maritime
domain), and the air space above the land and the waters. (Aerial domain). Thus
the domain of the state may be described as terrestrial, fluvial, maritime, and aerial.
Terrestrial = land, Fluvial = internal waters, Aerial domains = aerospace
Marine = external waters both surface and sub-aquatic
The smallest state in point of territory is Vatican, located just outside the
western boundary of Rome with an area of only 0.17 square mile or 0.44 square
kilometer. It would fit in Rizal Park in Manila. It is the smallest independent nation in
the world. The Republic of Nauru has an area of about 8 square miles or 21 square
kilometers. The former Soviet Union19 was the largest state in point or territory with
its total land area of about 8,599,610 square miles or 22,273,674 square kilometers.
Canada has an area of about 3,849,674 square miles or about 9,970,610 square
kilometers20 which covers a surface nearly as large as Europe.
The Philippines has a total land area of about 115,813 square miles or about
299,955 square kilometers;
The National Territory
Sec. 1, Art. I: The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all
the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the
Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial and
aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular
shelves, and other submarine areas.
(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
Section 1, Art II. The Philippines is a democratic and republican State.
Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from
them.
REPUBLICAN
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It is one wherein all government authority emanates from the people and is
exercised by representatives chosen by the people.
DEMOCRATIC
This emphasizes that the Philippines has some aspects of direct democracy
such as initiative and referendum.
(4) Sovereignty. 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
manifestations:
(a) Internal or the power of the state to rule within its territory; and
(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.
These internal and external aspects of sovereignty are not absolutely true in
practice because of the development of international relations and consequently, of
international law.
Origin of states.
There are several theories concerning the origin of states, 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.
(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 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. The United States is a melting pot
of several nationalities. On the other hand, the Arab nation is divided politically into
several sovereign states. Among them are: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria,
Lebanon, and others. The Philippines is a state composed of one nation.
(4) In common usage, however, the two terms are often used synonymously.
The Constitution uses them interchangeably.
The need for government is so apparent that even the most primitive societies,
history shows, had some form of it.
Forms of government.
The principal forms are the following:
(1) As to number of persons exercising sovereign powers:
(a) Monarchy or one in which the supreme and final authority is in the
hands of a single person without regard to the source of his election of the
nature or duration of his tenure. Monarchies are further classified into:
1) Absolute monarchy or one in which the ruler rules by divine right;
and
2) Limited monarchy or one in which the ruler rules in accordance with
a constitution;
(b) Aristocracy or one in which political power is exercised by a few
privileged class which is known as an aristocracy or oligarchy; and
(c) Democracy or one in which political power is exercised by a majority of
the people. 21 Democratic governments are further classified into:
1) Direct or pure democracy or one in which the will of the state is
formulated or expressed directly and immediately through the people in a
mass meeting or primary assembly rather through the medium of delegates
or representatives chosen to act for them; 22 and
2) Indirect, representative, or republican democracy or one in which
the will of the state is formulated and expressed through the agency of a
relatively small and select body of persons chosen by the people to act as
their representatives. 23
(2) As to extent of powers exercised by the central or national government:
(a) Unitary government or one in which the control of national and local
affairs is exercised by the central or national government; and
(b) Federal government or one in which the powers of government are
divided between two sets of organs, one for national affairs and the other local
affairs, each organ being supreme within its own sphere. The United States is a
federal government.
(3) As to relationship between the executive and the legislative branches of the
government:
(a) Parliamentary government or one in which 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, while the titular or nominal executive the Chief of State occupies
a position of irresponsibility; and
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(5) Comparison with older ancient governments. It can be said that the laws of
the barangay were generally fair. The system of government, although defective
was not so bad considering the conditions in other lands in the age during which it
flourished. An eminent scholar has written: The Filipino people, even in the
prehistoric times had already shown high intelligence and moral virtues; virtues and
intelligence clearly manifested in their legislation, which, taking into consideration
the circumferences and the epoch in which it was framed, was clearly as wise, as
prudent, and as humane, as that of the nations then at the head of civilization. 27
(4)
Niccolo Machiavelli
wrote The Prince, a handbook for rulers in the art of government.
Father of Modern Political Science
Prof. Francis Lieber
wrote Manual of Political Ethics; the first systematic treatise in
political science
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