SAINT LOUIS COLLEGE

City of San Fernando, La Union

College of Arts and Sciences, Teacher-Educ. and Information Technology

PS 104 Politics and Governance of SEA

Lesson 2:
Government and Forms of Government
Lesson Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the Lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Define what is government
2. Cite the different kinds of government
3. Explain fully the differences between each type of government.
4. Trace the different governments of the countries in Southeast Asia

Etymology of the word “Government”

It is derived from the Latin words’ “gubernaculum” and “gubernare” (to

direct, rule, guide, govern). In Greek “kybernan” to pilot a ship.

Government defined

It is the organization which directs or controls the affairs of the state, just as the rudder
functions to steer or direct the ship through the water.
It is the essential instrument or machinery of the state that carries out its will, purposes and
objectives.

A government is a group of people that have the power to rule in a territory, according to the
administrative law. This territory may be a country, a state or province within a country, or a
region. Governments make laws, rules, and regulations, collect taxes.

Government refers to the people or organizations that make, enforce and implement political
decisions for a society. (Ethridge and Handelman, 2013 p.8)

Functions of Government
Prime duty of the Government is to serve and protect the people.
Specific functions of the government:
1. Provide services for the well being of the nations as a whole such as infrastructure,
health, education, housing and disaster relief.
2. Promulgate laws and regulations that will protect the right to life, liberty and property of
its inhabitants.
3. Protect, conserve and regulate the utilization of the natural resources of the country
4. Regulate business> It also includes monitoring monetary policy, giving protection to
consumers and regulating banking practices.
5. Foreign relations functions such as entering into treaties and international agreements
with other states and protect its inhabitants and territorial jurisdiction.

NOTE: In the implementation of the functions of the government, they exercise the Essential
powers of the State:
1. Police Power – Power of the state to enact such laws or regulations in relation
 to persons and property as may promote public health, public morals,
public safety and the general welfare and conveniences of the people.
Police power prohibits all things hurtful to the comfort, safety and
welfare of society.

Basis of Police Power

“Salus Populi Est Suprema Lex” (welfare of the people is the
highest law)
“Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas” (So use your own as not to
injure another’s property)
Living in a civilized society demands that an individual must part with
some rights and privileges for the common good. Every citizen of every
community must bear certain burdens imposed for the good of all.

2. Power of Eminent Domain

3. Power of Taxation

Divisions of Government
1. National/Government- entire machinery of the central government.
2. Local Government- political subdivisions as established by or in accordance
with the constitution

Forms of the Government

1. As to the number of persons exercising sovereign powers
a. Autocracy
A. Monarchy
1. Absolute monarchy
2. Limited/Constitutional monarchy
B. Totalitarian Dictatorship
b. Oligarchy
1. Aristocracy
2. Military Junta
3. Communist Totalitarianism
c. Democracy
1. Direct/Pure democracy
2. Indirect, Representative or Republican democracy

2. As to extent of powers exercised by the central or national government

(Relationship between national and local government)
a. Unitary Government
b. Federal Government

3 As to the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of the

government
a. Parliamentary Government
b. Presidential Government

4. As to the Legitimacy of the Government

a. De Jure Government
b. De Facto Government

As to the number of Persons Exercising Sovereign Powers

1. Autocracy- The power and authority to rule are in the hands of a single
 individual. One person who is usually a king, queen, tsar, dictator
exercise sovereignty.

A. Monarchy – headed by a king or queen, emperor,

tsar who exercises the supreme power of the
government. The manner of acquiring the office is
through inheritance

1. Absolute Monarchy – it means the ruler rules by divine rights

 2. Constitutional/Limited Monarchy – it means the ruler rules in
accordance with the constitution.

Example : Great Britain, Japan, Thailand

B. Totalitarian Dictatorship – Characterized by having a leader who exercises
authoritarian power over every aspect of human affairs. Power is usually not
inherited but it is acquired by force and often reinforced by propaganda
Example: Germany – Adolf Hitler - (1933 – 1945)
Italy – Benito Mussolini “Fascist leader” -(1925-1945)
Soviet Union- Joseph Stalin - (1924 – 1953)
Uganda – Idi Amin “Butcher of Uganda” - (1971 -1979)
North Korea – Kim Jong-un (Kim Dynasty)
(1948 – present)
China – Mao Zedong “Maoism” - (1949 – 1976)
Iraq – Saddam Hussein

2. Oligarchy – A small group holds the power to govern. The power is derived from
wealth, military power, social position, education, or some combination of these. It is
regarded as the government ruled by a privileged few.
A. Aristocracy – A type of Oligarchy where power is derived from
virtue, age and experience, wisdom, education or religious
leadership.
Example: Ancient Spartan – Rule of Dorians
Ancient Rome – Rule of Patrician

B. Military Junta – a type of Oligarchy where power is consolidated

under military force
Example:
Haiti – after the coup of Aristide
Chile – under Pinochet
Greece – under Papadopoulos
Burma(Myanmar) – 1962-2011
- direct military rule started when Ne Win captured
power through a coup d'état in 1962
Thailand -From May 2014 until July 2019, Thailand was ruled
 by a military junta

C. Communist Totalitarianism (authoritarianism) – a type of oligarchy where

small group of government leaders claim to derive power from the people. This
small group adopts the Communism as their form of economics. All opposition
is suppressed. Total control over all aspects of human affairs is exercised and
reinforced by propaganda.
Example:
Modern China
Cuba – under Fidel Castro
Venezuela – Hugo Chavez
Laos
3. Democracy – A government in which the people hold the power to rule,
either direct or through elected officials. Sovereign power is vested to
the people.
A. Direct Democracy (Pure/Absolute Democracy) – A government wherein the will
of the people is translated into public policy (law) directly by the people
themselves in mass meeting. All citizens have the chance to participate in running
and managing the affairs of the state.
Example is Switzerland
B. Indirect /Republican/Representative democracy
It is a representative democracy because the people, the source of its authority,
elect individuals to represent their interests in its institutions. The formation and function of the
government is based on majority rule. The people, for example, elect their representatives by
majority vote in free, fair, competitive, and periodic elections in which practically all adult
citizens of the country have the right to vote. Further, the people’s representatives in Congress
make laws by majority vote. A chief executive, the President, elected by the people, then
enforces these laws.
Example: Philippines, Japan, New Zealand, USA
C. Constitutional Democracy
Democracy today is also constitutional, meaning that government by the people’s
representatives is both limited and empowered to protect equally and justly the rights of
everyone in the country.
People’s Representatives in a Constitutional Democracy are both limited and empowered
by the supreme law, the Constitution, for the ultimate purpose of protecting equally the rights of
all the people. The periodic election by the people of their representatives in government is
conducted according to the Constitution and the laws made under it. The votes of the majority
decide the winners of the election, but the rights of the minority are constitutionally protected so
that they can freely criticize the majority of the moment and attempt to replace their
representatives in the next election. From time to time, there is a lawful and orderly transition of
power from one group of leaders to another. There is a legitimate legal limitation on the people’s
government in a constitutional democracy, not an unlimited democracy in which the tyranny of
the majority against political minorities could persist without effective challenges.

Government as to the Relationship Between the Executive and Legislative

Branch

1. Parliamentary Government – A government where there is a fusion of Legislative and

executive organs where the two are one body performing two governmental functions:
 policy-making and policy-executing. The Prime Minister in this form of government has
no term of office.

2. Presidential Government – The powers of the government are divided into three
classes: executive, legislative, judicial which are distributed into the Executive,
Legislative and Judicial branches. Under this form the officers entrusted with each of
these powers are not permitted to encroach upon the powers confided to the others. The
President and the Congress are elected directly by the people for a fixed term of office.

Government as to the extend of powers exercised by the National and Local

Government

1. Unitary Government – It means that the control of national and local affairs is exercised
by the central or national government

2. Federal Government – It means that the power of the government are divided between
two sets of organs, one for national affairs and the other for local affairs, each organ being
supreme within its own sphere.

Government as to its Legitimacy

1. De Jure or Legitimate Government – a government established according to the

constitution. All other laws and modes of their implementations are strictly adhered to what
the constitution says.

2. De Facto or Illegitimate government – a government that does not recognize

any fundamental law or constitution. Its basic source of power is force, which
is against the will of the rightful and legal government