Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS

LESSON 1: STATE AND NON STATE INSTITUTION

STATE INSTITUTION AND NON-STATE INSTITUTION

▪ State institutions are those endorsed and supported by a central state,

and part of the formal state structure.

▪ Non-state institutions are those that operate outside of the formal

support and endorsement of the state structure, though they might be
recognized to some extent within that formal structure.

WHAT IS INSTITUTION?

• Institution -It is an organization, establishment, foundation, society, or

the like, devoted to the promotion of a particular class or programs,
especially one of a public, educational or charitable character.
Institution
➢ Sets of internalised rules supported by values
- has tacit influence
- rules will be contested

➢ Shape understanding of social meaning + order

- provides a framework for performance

➢ Shape of rights + duties

- political authority
- economic opportunities

INSTITUTION

ORGANISATION

PEOPLE
 State Institution

POLITICAL AND LEADERSHIP STRUCTURES

According to Max Weber as cited by Santarita & Madrid, 2016,
Political structure or institution is defined as the organized way in which
power is allocated and decisions are made within society.
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The Executive branch is comprised of the President and the Vice President
who are chosen by direct popular vote and fulfill a term of six years. The
Constitution grants the President authority to appoint his Cabinet. These
departments form a large portion of the country’s bureaucracy.

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Legislative branch can make laws, alter, and reverse them through the
power bestowed in the Philippine Congress. This institution is divided into the
Senate and the House of Representatives.

JUDICIAL BRANCH
The Judicial branch maintains the power to resolve disputes concerning rights
that are legally demandable and enforceable. This branch decides whether
there has been a serious abuse of judgment amounting to lack or excess of
authority on the part and instrumentality of the government. It is made up of a
Supreme Court and lower courts.

The Constitution explicitly permits the Supreme Court the power of Judicial
Review as the power to declare a treaty, international or executive agreement,
law, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or
regulation unconstitutional
 ▪ POWER
is the capacity to realize desired ends despite opposition from others.

The utilization of power is the business of government, which is

defined as a formal organization that directs the political life of a society
(Macionis, 2012) Therefore, governments demand compliance on the part of a
population.

According to Macionis (2012) “No government, Weber explained, is

likely to keep its power for long if compliance comes only from the threat of
brute force. Even the most brutal dictator must wonder if there can ever be
enough police to watch everyone—and who would watch the police? Every
government, therefore, tries to make itself seem legitimate in the eyes of the
people. This fact brings us to Weber’s concept of authority, a power that
people perceive as legitimate rather than coercive.

TYPES OF AUTHORITY

1. Traditional Authority - respect for a long-standing cultural pattern is

used to legitimize power.

2. Rational-Legal Authority - or also known as bureaucratic authority;

legally created rules and regulations are used to legitimize power.

3. Charismatic Authority - extraordinary personal skills that inspire

devotion and obedience are used to legitimize power.
ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS

▪ WHAT IS ECONOMY?
- A social institution organized around production, consumption,
and contribution of goods and services.

Human beings are driven to satisfy their basic necessity which includes
food, water and shelter however human beings also aim for goods and
services which can be attained through help from the many or known as
collective effort (Santarita & Madrid, 2016) This make economic activity
essential in Human’s life because it can influence the complexity of society.

Imagine if there is an alteration or change in the means of production as

well as the redistribution and exchanges of deliverables or services, it can
strongly affect the overall functioning of society.

FORMS OF REDISTRIBUTION AND EXCHANGE OF PRODUCTS

➢ RECIPROCITY
• GENERALIZED RECIPROCITY
• BALANCED RECIPROCITY
• NEGATIVE RECIPROCITY

➢ REDISTRIBUTION
➢ MARKET EXCHANGE
RECIPROCITY
- Transaction between two socially equal parties having the same
status with regards to values of goods or services.

▪ GENERALIZED RECIPROCITY
- A form of transaction which utilizes gestures that expresses
personal relationships than economic transactions.

▪ BALANCED RECIPROCITY
- In this form of transaction, the giver is expected to gain something
in return although it does not have to be given instantly.

▪ NEGATIVE RECIPROCITY
- This transaction is being practiced using deceiving ways to gain
profit. In this form of transaction, individuals involved try to gain
as much as conceivable while paying the least amount possible.

REDISTRIBUTION
- The process by which products produced out from the
community is sent to a place where they are stored, counted, and
later distributed back to the people.

- It is usually the leader of the community who oversees the

process. (Santarita & Madrid, 2016)The said authority may be a
single individual, (e.g., a chief, or a group of people, or temple
priests) .
 - Is when members of an organized group contribute money into a
common pol of fund. A central authority usually has the privilege
and responsibility to make decisions about the goods or money
later will be allocated among the group as a whole. Example of
this is the taxes that are collected from individuals dependent on
their personal income and then that money is distributed to other
members of society through various government programs.

MARKET EXCHANGE
- The price of the transactions of deliverables and services are
supposedly governed by the rules of supply and demand .

- Is when goods are sold for money, which in turn is used to

purchase other goods, with the ultimate goal of acquiring more
money and accumulating more goods. Markets may be
represented by physical locations where transactions are made.
These include retail stores and other similar businesses that sell
individual items to wholesale markets selling goods to other
distributors. Stores may also be virtual. Internet-based stores and
auction sites such as Amazon and eBay are examples of markets
where transactions can take place entirely online and the parties
involved never connect physically
 Non- State Institution

NON-STATE INSTITUTIONS
▪ BANKS
▪ CORPORATION
▪ COOPERATIVES
▪ TRADE UNIONS
▪ TRANSNATIONAL ADVOCACY GROUPS
▪ DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
▪ INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

BANK
- A bank is a financial institution that receives deposits from the
public and generates credit.

▪ Commercial/Retail Banks ➢ Manage withdrawals and deposits as well as

supplying short-term loans to a person and small-scale businesses.

▪ Investment Bank ➢ A bank that purchases large holdings of newly issued

shares and resells them to investors.

▪ Insurance and Companies ➢ Offers insurance policies to the public either

by selling them directly to a person or through an employer’s benefit plan.

▪ CORPORATION
A corporation is a legal unit that is distinct from its owners. Moreover, a
corporation has the right to enter contracts, loan and borrow money, hire
employees, own assets, and pay taxes.

▪ COOPERATIVES
Cooperatives are jointly owned enterprises engaging in the production or
distribution of goods or services. Cooperatives are usually operated by farmers
or consumers for their mutual benefit.

▪ TRADE UNIONS
Trade unions or also known as labor unions are consist of workforces who
have come together to attain mutual goals like protecting the integrity of its
trade, improving safety standards, achieving higher pay and benefits like
health care, and retirement.

▪ DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
These are independent organizations whose goals are to help develop and
support economic growth especially for the poor and marginal portion of the
society. So, they may have opportunities for income and decent employment.

▪ INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Include both governmental and non-governmental organizations.
▪ INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
 - transcend borders in pursuit of a common cause.

o Examples of INGO’s International Red Cross and other

humanitarian teams deployed in areas hit by natural and
man-made disasters

▪ INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

- refer to a grouping established by states and are based on
treatise, have formal structures, and meet at regular intervals
(Santarita & Madrid, 2016)

o Example of IGO’S Peace-keeping forces sent by the

United Nations to warring states.