1. Conceptualizing the STATE
and the PEOPLE
Prof. Lourdes Veneracion-Rallonza, PhD
Department of Political Science
Ateneo de Manila University

2. Some philosophical constructs
on the ‘state’…
 PLATO: arises out of man’s lack of self-sufficiency
 ARISTOTLE: man, a political animal, is intended to live in a state
(polis)
 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: the state is given by God to aid man in
his pursuits of eternal life
 MACHIAVELLI: basically a power system, an instrument of the
prince to have, maintain and expand power
 HOBBES: a product of a contract and with the parties’ consent
 LOCKE: an institution agreed upon by free, equal, independent,
and rational men in order to secure the natural rights of men
 ROUSSEAU: the only thing that can legitimize the chains that
men have acquired, and it is only through the state that men could
have true freedom

3. Historical Predecessors of the
modern state…
 CITY STATE: a small polity located in the Mediterranean
during the time of ancient Greece (e.g. Athens, Sparta)
 EMPIRE: internally fragmented & ethnically
heterogeneous, being composed of numerous culturally
distinct tribal societies which converges on the center city
(e.g. Roman)
 PATRIMONIAL STATE: organization of royal (i.e. ruled
by the king)household in w/c the structure of authority
developed w/ the territorial expansion of royal jurisdiction

4.  MEDIEVAL STATE: transformation of feudalism into rule
by centralized, medieval states; power centers were the king
& the church
 ABSOLUTIST STATE: transformation of political space
into the idea of territoriality (e.g. England, France)
 LIBERAL CONSTITUTIONAL STATE: 19th century
development where the state is founded on the consent of
the rule; state’s power must be legitimated

5. The State…
 After the institutionalization of the Treaty of
Westphalia in 1648, it became the dominant
political organization in international politics.
 A legal concept; as a physical entity, its basically a
place that has the following elements:
People Territory
Government sovereignty

6. The importance of national
interest…
 Variable national interests
 Fixed national interests:
Well-being
security
existence

7. What defines the ‘people’?
 Culture or the sense of
belongingness/identity consciousness as
powered by religion, language,
customs/traditions and historicity.
 Citizenship or the sense of valuing the people
in the society (rights) and the sense of
obliging them to return something back to
society (duties)

8. Citizenship as Rights: Human
Rights are…
 HR are inherent to or part of the human
person;
 HR are inalienable, thus, they cannot be
taken away from anybody; and
 HR are universal; they are not limited by
boundaries and are recognized by humankind

9. Basic Principles of Human
Rights…
 Equality – all persons are equal regardless of
sex, religion, race, creed, political belief, etc.
 Collective rights – HR enjoyed by the whole
society
 State guarantee – the government has the
responsibility of protecting and defending
HR

10. Classification
 Civil rights or those granted to private
individuals for the purpose of securing the
enjoyment of their right to happiness
 Social & Cultural rights pertain to a
person’s freedom to benefit from her/is
capacity for learning and transferring
knowledge to succeeding generations

11. Classification
 Economic rights are intended to ensure the
well-being and economic security of the
individual
 Political rights pertain to rights to
participate actively in governance

12. Citizenship as Duties: Basic
duties of citizens…
 Love of country
 Defense of the (Philippine) state
 Upholding the Constitution and obeying the laws
 Contribution to the development and welfare of the
country
 Cooperation with duly-constituted authorities
 Responsible exercise of rights and respect the rights
of others
 Election of good leaders in government

13. How is citizenship
acquired?
 Modern law recognizes three distinct
ways of acquiring citizenship:
1. Jus sanguinis - or Law of the Blood.
Under this principle, children acquire
the citizenship of their parents.
2. Jus soli - or Law of the Soil. Under this
principle, children acquire the
citizenship of the place of birth.
3. Naturalization - the legal act of
adopting an alien as a citizen.

14. Distinguishing between
citizenship and nationality
 Citizenship bound to  Nationality bound to a
territorial state group of people
 Implies symbiotic  Implies the politico-
relationship between cultural (historicity,
people and state language, tradition)
 A practice, a form of relationship between
belonging, resting on a state and the people
set of legal, social &  Serves as a legal identity
participatory from w/c no rights need
entitlements (w/c may be arise but obligation might
conferred irregardless of
nationality)