What form of government and/or combinations can best work in the Philippines.

Cite outside
references if necessary. Make it look like it was written by good old college students. Be a
political scientists.

Government: Forms
Forms of Government.
The following are some of the popular forms of government in the world today classified
into the number of people ruling, as to the relationship between the national and the local,
on the status of the rulers running the government and according to the relationship
between the executive and the legislative branch.
1. AS TO THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE RULING
Monarchy is a government where the supreme power is hold by an individual or by a
single sovereign as head of state through hereditary transfer of power or one who
comes from a royal family. This form of government is classified into (a) Absolute
Monarchy, where the monarch exercises absolute powers, and (b) Limited Monarchy,
where the monarch delegates some of his powers to another government body. An
example of absolute monarchy in existence today is Saudi Arabia and Brunei. United
Kingdom and Japan are known to have powerful absolute monarchies before but now
they are constitutional monarchy where Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and Emperor
Akihito of Japan have limited government powers or control enshrined in their
constitutions. Their major role as heads of state is their countries ceremonial figures.
Aristocracy is a form of government where power is vested by few powerful persons like
a dominant clan, elite or clique who rule for their own vested interests especially for the
accumulation of wealth and privileges. It is usually called as the government of the few.
Democracy is a government where power is hold directly or indirectly by the citizens
under a free and universal suffrage. The term democracy is taken from a Greek
word dmokrata (demos for people and kratos for power) which means a
government of the people; the power of the people; or the government of discussion.
Values like pluralism, the rule of law, freedom and liberty, and human rights are
attributed to democracy.
2. AS TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE NATIONAL AND THE LOCAL
Unitary is a government where powers are concentrated in one central government.
Central government may delegate or transfer limited power or control to their sub-
national, tiers or local government units. However, the central government still
possesses supreme power to recall the powers it delegated
Federal is a government with self-governing regions, states, local units or tiers united by
one central government usually called the federal government. There is a clear division
of powers between the national and their local governments. In the federation, the self-
governing status of states, regions or constituent units are guaranteed by the
constitution and cannot be changed unilaterally by the central or federal government.
3. AS TO THE STATUS OF THE RULERS RUNNING THE GOVERNMENT
Civil Government when it is run by a civilian authority and this is usually formed after
toppling a military or an authoritarian regime.
Military Government when the government is run by the members of the Armed Forces.
4. AS TO THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE AND THE LEGISLATIVE
BRANCH
Presidential form of government is a government where there is a complete separation
of powers between the executive and the legislative branch both in tenure and
prerogatives. It is also described as a government where their head of state and their
head of government are held by one and the same person.
Parliamentary form of government is when the head of government is elected from
among the members of the legislative branch to perform executive functions and
conferred by the legislature complete control and administration of the law. The citizens
in this government indirectly elect their countrys chief executive through the election of
their legislative representatives
5. OTHER FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
Dictatorship is a regime of one single leader who may have not been elected and is
using force, usually the military, to keep in power and to be in control. In this
government, there is no respect on public opinion or of the individual human rights.
Totalitarian is a government ruled by a single political party where citizens are forced to
vote for the party and candidates chosen by the government. This is an extreme form of
an authoritarian government.
Republican is a representative form of government where its powers and authority are
directly or indirectly derived from the people.
Theocracy is a government where the rulers are claiming to be ruling based on a set of
religious ideas or as agent of a God or deity.
De Jure is a government which has rightful title founded upon a constitution but no
power or no control either because the same has been withdrawn from it or because it
has not yet actually entered into the exercise thereof.
De Facto a government which actually exercises power or control but without legal title.
It is operating against the duly constituted government. In understanding the forms of
government, it is important to know the distinctions between the Head of State and the
Head of Government. The former is the national leader of country who will represent the
nation in the international community while the latter is the chief executive who leads in
running the domestic affairs of the government. In a Presidential form of government, the
head of state and the head of government is hold by one and the same person who is the
President like in the case of the United States of America and of the Philippines. It is quite
 different in the parliamentary form of government where the head of state is usually the
King, Queen, Emperor or President who is performing ceremonial functions only while
their head of government is another leader usually named as Prime Minister or Chancellor
like in the case of Germany.
PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE OPERATIONS OF THE THREE BRANCHES OF
GOVERNMENT.
Governments, usually in democratic and republican states, are divided into three
branches namely the Legislative which has the power to make laws, the Executive with
the powers to execute and enforce the laws and the Judiciary with the power to interpret
the meaning, application and enforcement of the laws. In democracy, the following are
the principles governing the operations of these three branches:
1. Separation of Powers Principle of dividing government powers into three parts namely
the legislative power to the legislative branch, executive power for the executive branch
and judicial powers to the judiciary. No single person or groups of persons hold more than
one government powers, hence, in this principle concentration and overlapping of powers
are held unconstitutional.
2. Principles of Checks and Balances The powers of the three branches of the government
are equal and balanced with each other and it means that no branch will have so much
power capable of dominating the other. Although each has designated separate powers,
the other branch has the power to check the other to ensure that no branch will control
the government or exceed in the exercise of its powers, and this is actualized through
their sharing of powers.
3. Blending of Powers -The three branches are not independent from each other rather they
are interdependent with each other. A branch cannot exist without the presence of the
other branch. Legislative measure passed by the legislative branch becomes a law when
signed by the Chief Executive, and its intents and purposes are actualized when enforced
or implemented by the executive branch. Its legal acceptance is checked through the
judiciarys power to interpret it when confronted with questions on constitutionality, legality
or propriety.
THE THREE FUNDAMENTAL POWERS OF THE STATE.
In this chapter, we have already discussed the concept of State, the organization of its
Government to bring about its will and purposes, the Administration which will run the
affairs in the government and the several forms of government. These over-all concepts
can better be realized with the exercise of the states three fundamental powers which
are the Police Power, Eminent Domain and Taxation. Upon the formation of the State as
an international entity, simultaneously, these three powers commence to exist without a
need of it to be expressly conferred by another state, by the legislature or by a
constitution. This is one of the unique natures of the three powers that it is inherent in the
state.
1. Police Power is a power called the law of overruling necessity which means the power
of the state in promoting the public welfare by restraining the use of Liberty and Property.
 The bases for the exercise of this power are the public necessity, and the right of the
State and of the public to self-protection and self-preservation.
Its justification is the Latin maxim salus populi est suprema lex which means that the
welfare of the people is the supreme law.
It is the legislature who generally exercises this power. The President or the Chief
Executive, administrative bodies and the local government units also exercise police
powers.
The limitations in the exercise of police powers are outline in the following requisites:
Lawful Subjects it is the interest of the public as differentiated from a particular class
requires the basic requirement in the exercise of police power.
Lawful Means the means employed are reasonably necessary for the
accomplishment of the purpose and should not be unduly oppressive to the people.
When it is exercised by a delegate police power can be validly exercised when
expressly granted by law through the legislature, in the case of the local government
unit, within its territorial boundaries (except to protect water supply), and must not be
contrary to law.
1. Power of Eminent of Domain is the power of the State to acquire private property for
public use upon payment of just compensation. The basis in the exercise of this power is
the necessity of the property for public use. Congress has the power, generally, to
exercise eminent domain. The President, local legislative bodies, public and quasi
corporations can also exercise this power.
In the valid exercise of this power, it follows the compliance of two stages. First is the
determination of the authority on the part of government or corporation to exercise the
power and the propriety of its exercise. Second is the determination of just compensation.
The following are the requisites in the exercise of the power of eminent domain.
1. Necessity
2. Private property
3. Taking
4. Public Use
5. Payment of Just Compensation, and
6. Due Process where the owner of the property to be acquired is given the opportunity to be heard.
1. Power of Taxation is the power by which the State raises revenue to defray the necessary
expenses of the government. It is also defined as the power to demand from the members
of the society their proportionate share or contribution in the maintenance of the
government.
The scope of taxation includes persons, property or occupation within the taxing
jurisdiction of the taxing authority, and its basis is the lifeblood theory which means
that taxes are the lifeblood of the government and such power is emanating from the
necessity of the government to survive.
 Like the other two powers, taxation is exercised generally by the legislature and can be
exercised also by the President and delegated to the local legislative bodies
For the valid exercise of the power of taxation, it has inherent and constitutional
limitations.
1. Inherent limitations in the exercise of taxation
a. Should be for public purpose
b. Power cannot be delegated
c. Territoriality or the situs of taxation
d. Exemption of the government from taxation
e. International comity
2. Constitutional limitations
a. Due process of law
b. Equal protection of the law
c. Uniformity, equitability and progressivity of taxation
d. Non-impairment of contracts
e. Non-imprisonment for non-payment of poll tax
f. Origin of appropriation, revenue and tariff bills in the lower house
g. Non-infringement of religious freedom
h. Delegation of legislative authority to the President to fix tariff
i. rates, import and export quotas, tonnage and wharfage dues
j. Tax exemption of properties actually, directly and exclusively used for religious, charitable and
educational purposes
k. Need for majority votes of all members of Congress in case of legislative grant of tax exemptions
l. Non-impairment of the Supreme Courts jurisdiction in tax related cases, and
m. Tax exemption of revenues and assets of, including grants, endowments, donations, or contributions to,
educational institutions.
Double Taxation means additional taxes are laid on the same subject by the same taxing
jurisdiction during the same taxing period and for the same purpose.
License fee on the other hand is different from a tax in the sense that the basis of the
former is the police power to regulate while the latter is for the government to raise
revenue. The amount to be collected in the imposition of fees must be limited only to the
cost of issuing the license and the necessary inspection while the tax rates or amounts
are unlimited provided that they are not confiscatory. The objects of taxation are persons
and property while fees are paid for the privilege of doing something but such privilege is
revocable. For the non-payment of taxes, the business or activity does not become illegal
but becomes illegal when failure to pay the fees.