Polgov Midterm Flashcards
Article II
Declaration of Principles and State Policies
Republican government
a democratic government by representatives chosen by the people at large. The essence, therefore, of a republican state is indirect rule. The people have established the government to govern themselves. Its officers from the highest to the lowest are servants of the people and not their masters
The existence of bill of rights
the observance of the rule of the majority
the observance of the principle that ours is a government of laws, and not of men
the presence of elections through popular will
the observance of the principle of separation of powers and the system of checks and balances
the observance of the principle that the legislature cannot pass irreparable laws
the observance of the law on public officers
the observance of the principle that the state cannot be sued without its consent
Manifestation of a democratic and republican state
Sovreighnty
implies the supreme authority inherent in the state by which it is governed. As the state in whom sovreighnity resides, the filipino people have the right to constitute their own government, to change it, and to define its jurisdiction and powers.
Excercised indirectly through public officials
the people however, do not govern themselves directly. Sovereignty is exercised through duly elected and appointed public officials who, as public servants, are accountable to the people. Their acts, if within the scope of their delegated powers are, in effect, the acts of the people
Exercised directly through suffrage
actual sovereignty is excercised by the people through the electoral process. The popular will is best expressed when electoral processes are free, clean and honest, on the basis of universal suffrage and through secret vote
Right of the people to revolt
Section 1 above ipliedly recognizes that the people, as the ultimate judges of their destinty, can resort to revolution as a matter of right.
