Political Science Students Philosophical Dialogues : Video

Our Final Requirement in our
Major Subject 
Political Science 1o9 : Ancient Politics.

Dialogue on Different Aspects of Politics:

• Democracy
• Government and its Role to Education
• Best Form of Government
• Separation of Church and Government
• Justice

SouthEast Asia: IndoChina

(Source: Paul, E. [2010]. Obstacles to democratization in Southeast Asia: A study of the nation state, regional and global order. London: Palgrave Macmillan.)

THAILAND

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that was not colonized by Anglo-European powers. This was due partly to the King of Siam's negotiating skills and compliance with the commercial and political demands of colonial powers, as well as to the British and French strategic alliance to maintain the country as a buffer zone between their competing imperial ambitions. To maintain its independence, Siam had to cede Siem Reap, Battambang and Sisophon provinces to the French in 1907 and transfer the Malay states of Kedah, Pedis, Kelantan and Trengganu to the British in 1909. The judicious policy of the royal household kept the country from Japanese rule during WWII. Japan was given freedom of passage for its troops to Burma and elsewhere in the region and in exchange for friendly collaboration, Thailand was rewarded with the transfer of some territory which it claimed from British Burma and Malaya and French Cambodia. After WWII the communist insurgency prompted Thailand to support the growth of a powerful military establishment and the emplacement of a military dictatorship with the help of US money and aid. In exchange the United States built a number of military bases in Thailand as part of its war against communism in Indochina. In recent years, there has been some notable progress in the democratization of the country and, perhaps because it was never colonized it is possible to detect a positive trend towards the protection of human and political rights. Nevertheless, the military, as in Turkey and Pakistan constitute a continuing challenge to the political stability of Thailand.

Pathway to democracy. Democratization in Thailand as elsewhere in Southeast Asia is a form of war waged by citizens' demands for power and political equality. It has been fought on many fronts by communist uprisings on behalf of poor peasants of the north and northeast as well as by minority groups in the south. A major terrain of political engagement is the primate city of Bangkok where some major battles have been fought in recent years, such as the 1973 great student rebellion which overthrew the military dictatorship of field marshal Thanom Kittikachorn and the 1976 bloodbath when the military seized power. One of the most important confrontations was the 1992 Black May popular uprising which overthrew another military regime and introduced major political reforms and the 1997 Constitution which strengthened civil society and press freedom.

Aging USA: How pension debts ruined NYC subways, bankrupted Sa Diego, and loom as the next financial crisis

Chapter 1
WALTER REUTHER AND THE TREATY OF DETROIT

The weight of history on our results has been significant. -RICK WAGONER, chairman and chief executive officer, General Motors

Once upon a time, General Motors was a symbol of success. After World War II, the automaker routinely captured more than 40 percent of the American automobile market, and in 1955, when an entry-level Chevrolet cost $1,450, GM's market share climbed to 51 percent. The company's brass was moved to complain (or so went the joke) "We're still losing five out of every ten sales."1 In an age when GM was criticized for pursuing its own selfish aims rather than those of the country, Charlie Wilson, its outgoing president, testified, rather memorably, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, "What was good for the country was good for General Motors, and vice versa." Wilson's remark didn't fool anybody; GM, of course, was in business for its stockholders. To ensure that its profit targets were met, it methodically raised the prices of its cars, and year after year it had the highest sales, the highest profits of any com-pany in America. The shareholders made out like bandits. From the end of the war until 1965, a span of two decades, the stock registered a stupendous, eightfold gain.

But as an institution, General Motors was already beginning to age. Shareholders did not at first notice the great transformation that was occurring in their status-their great disenfranchisement. But in a manner of speaking, they lost their claim; General Motors was sold out from under them. Oh, it wasn't literally sold. But the gushing stream that was GM s cash flow, which previously and properly had flowed to the stockholders, was quietly but most assuredly diverted. Over the next four decades, GM's stock lost 60 percent of its value. The company continued to pay dividends, but the owners of America's biggest industrial enterprise would have done better holding T-bills. Even though, over those many years, GM sold as many cars or more as in Wilson's day, the putative owners-the stockholders-for all practical purposes had lost their title.

Case Digest: 81 SCRA 408 ARSENIO N. SALCEDO vs. THE COURT OF APPEALS, VENANCIO N. DIA

FACTS: 

Arsenio N. Salcedo was appointed as Chief of Police in Candelaria, Quezon in 1955. Records show that Salcedo then held civil service eligibility, having passed the U.S. Civil Service Examination for Messenger and Skilled Laborers in 1928. Considering his eligibility appropriate to the position of Chief of Police, the Commissioner of Civil Service validated the same and attested the appointment of Salcedo as permanent. On July 10, 1960, an administrative complaint for misconduct and serious irregularities in the performance of his duties was filed against Salcedo. During his suspension from the office, the mayor terminated the services of Salcedo as Chief of Police. The basis of the termination stated that Salcedo’s appointment as permanent was erroneous and illegal, since Salcedo didn’t possess the appropriate eligibility for the position of Chief of Police. Salcedo appealed to the Commissioner of Civil Service. Although the Commissioner found him guilty of conduct unbecoming a police officer, he was ordered reinstated and was imposed a fine of one month’s pay with a warning against similar offenses. The mayor refused to pay the reinstatement and appealed the decision of the CSC to the court of appeals. At first, the Court of Appeals ordered as well the reinstatement of the petitioner but the mayor moved to reconsider the decision of the Court of Appeals. The appellate court reversed its earlier decision and ordered the termination of the petitioner from service.


ISSUE/ISSUES:

1. Whether or not certain eligibility is appropriate for a position is within the exclusive prerogative of the Commissioner.
2. Whether or not the mayor can legally terminate petitioner’s services notwithstanding the attestation of the latter’s appointment as permanent by the Commissioner of Civil Service.

A Study of Local Government Unit: Barangay Catbangen, San Fernando City, La Union

A Study of Local Government Unit:

Barangay Catbangen,

San Fernando City, La Union

 INTRODUCTION:

                The barangay is the smallest unit of the local government and yet, it is undeniable that it holds an important role in the society and in the government as well. We choose a barangay for this research study, and that is the barangay of Catbangen in the City of San Fernando, Province of La Union.

We choose to conduct our research in this barangay because we are interested how the second largest barangay in the city of San Fernando governs their unit, added to the fact that we are acquainted to some of the residents in this barangay. We found out that they hold the largest number of voters among the barangays in San Fernando City, with approximately 6,500 registered voters. This local government unit holds an importance to the city because it is evident that they have a large numbers of registered voters wherein it is essential whenever there is a local election.

Pol. Sci 1o7: The Miracle: The epic story of Asia’s quest for wealth (Schuman, M )

The miracle: The epic story of Asia’s quest for wealth
(Schuman, M
. [2010]. New York: HarperCollins)


MINISTER MENTOR'S ASIAN VALUES

By nature and experience, we were not enamored 
of theories. What we were interested in were 
 real solutions to our problems. 
— LEE KUAN YEW

Lee Kuan Yew was exhausted, but he still could not sleep. He tossed and turned, unable to calm his mind. Lee had good reason to worry. The next day—August 9, 1965—he would become the first prime minister of a brand-new country, the city-state of Singapore.

Lee took on this task with trepidation. Unlike Nehru, Park, or most other post-colonial leaders, who saw their freedom as an op¬portunity to achieve national greatness, Lee doubted the viability of tiny Singapore as an independent state. For the previous two years, Singapore, once a British colony, had been part of a federa¬tion with neighboring Malaysia. The partnership, Lee believed, was crucial to Singapore's survival. But the match proved ill-fated. His relations with the federal government in Kuala Lumpur grew so acrimonious that it became impossible for the union to continue. Furious last-ditch negotiations over the separation wore Lee down, and the weight of the responsibilities that lay ahead overwhelmed him. Throughout that night, he woke every hour or so, reached for his notepad, and added more entries onto his lengthy to-do list.

At 10 a.m., Singapore declared independence. Lee was too busy to read the proclamation before it was released to the world. Two hours later, Lee appeared at a press conference at Singapore's television station. He took a few questions and then recounted the dramatic events of the previous days. The end of the federation with Malaysia would be regarded as "a moment of anguish," Lee told the journalists. "All of my life I have believed in merger and the unity of these two territories," Lee continued. "It's a people connected by geography, economics, and ties of kinship." Then he paused. Tears welled in his eyes. "Would you mind if we stop for a while?" he plaintively asked. It took him twenty minutes to regain enough composure to continue the conference. "Among Chinese it is unbecoming to exhibit such a lack of manliness," Lee later wrote. "But I could not help myself."

Pol.Sci. 1o8: The Next Decade by Friedman, G.

THE NEXT DECADE
(Friedman, G. [2012])

THE UNINTENDED EMPIRE
The American president is the most important political leader in the world. The reason is simple: he governs a nation whose eco¬nomic and military policies shape the lives of people in every country on every continent. The president can and does order invasions, embargos, and sanctions. The economic policies he shapes will resonate in billions of lives, perhaps over many generations. During the next decade, who the president is and what he (or she) chooses to do will often affect the lives of non-Americans more than the decisions of their own governments.a

This was driven home to me on the night of the most recent U.S. presidential election, when I tried to phone one of my staff in Brussels and reached her at a bar filled with Belgians celebrating Barack Obama's victory. I later found that such Obama parties had taken place in dozens of cities around the world. People everywhere seemed to feel that the outcome of the American election mattered greatly to them, and many appeared personally moved by Obama's rise to power.

Before the end of Obama's first year in office, five Norwegian politicians awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize, to the consternation of many who thought that he had not yet done anything to earn it. But according to the committee's chair, Obama had immediately and dramatically changed the world's perception of the United States, and this change alone merited the prize. George W. Bush had been hated because he was seen as an imperialist bully. Obama was being celebrated because he sig¬naled that he would not be an imperialist bully.

Pol.Sci 1o5: Midterms Notes

ADMNISTRATIVE LAW: 
Field of public law that deals with (basically):

• Constitution (XI, VII)
• Jurisprudence (cases that have been decided)
• Rules and Regulations relative to as depicting the establishment, function, and actual operations of Phil. Administrative agencies (IRR)


JURISPRUDENCE:  Bodies of principles and knowledge based on decided cases

Pol. Sci 1o5: Public Administration (Finals)

POWER OF ADMINISTRATIVE BODIES:
• Implementation
• Quasi-legislative
• Quasi-judicial
• Investigatory and Inquisitorial
• Determinative
• Ministerial
• Discretionary

INVESTIGATORY and INQUISITORIAL:
INVESTIGATORY
- To inspect premises and secure
-  Require the disclosure by means of accounting the records (particularly the Commission on Audit)
- Also empowered by virtue of ‘’police power’’
-SECURITY & EXCHANGE COMMISSION- secure the availers of loans and inspect companies
-COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS - issue subpoena; swearing in of witnesses; inspecting premises;


INQUISITORIAL
- ‘’Ability to probe; regulatory power (attachment of the regulatory power)


DETERMINATIVE POWER:

Case Digest: 115 S.C.R.A. 374: Vir-jen Shipping and Marine Services Vs. NLRC

FACTS: 
Seamen namely Rogelio Bisula, Ruben Arroza, Juan Gacutno, Leonilo Atok, Nilo Cruz, Alvaro Andrada, Nemesio Adug, Simplicio Bautista, Romeo Acosta, and Jose Encabo had breached their contract with the Vir-Jen Shipping and Marine Services Inc. when they demanded a salary increase of 50% and that they connoted a threat in the said cablegram that they sent to the shipping company. The Vir-Jen Shipping and Marine Services Inc. denied, as decided by the Prinicipal, Messrs. Kyoei Tanker Company Limited, the said demand of the seamen and wrote the National Seamen Board (NSB) asking permission to cancel the manning contract of the seamen.
 The National Seamen Board (NSB), through its Executive Director Cresencio C. Dayao, authorized the Vir-Jen Shipping to cancel the manning contracts of the seamen, and that they may disembark the whole compliment/crewmembers of the vessel M/T ‘’Jannu’’. Upon the disembarkation of the seamen in Japan and repartriated to Manila, they filed a complaint against Vir-Jen with the NSB for the illegal dismissal and non-payment of the wages.
The seamen appealed the decision of the NSB to the National Labor Relations Commision (NLRC). The NLRC reversed the decision of the NSB on the ground that the termination of the contract was without valid cause. Also, the NLRC required the Vir-Jen Shipping Inc. to pay the wages and other monetary benefits corresponding to the unexpired portion of the employment contract.