Political Science Syllabus

:: Upsc Syllabus - Other Subjects

Main Examination of Civil Services Exam

Paper-I

Political Theory and Indian Politics

1. Political Theory: meaning and approaches.

2. Theories of the State: Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, Post-colonial and feminist.

3. Justice: Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawl's theory of justice and its communitarian critiques.

4. Equality: Social, political and economic; relationship between equality and freedom; Affirmative action.

5. Rights: Meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; concept of Human Rights.

6. Democracy: Classical and contemporary theories; different models of democracy - representative, participatory and deliberative.

7. Concept of power, hegemony, ideology and legitimacy.

8. Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism.

9. Indian Political Thought : Dharamshastra, Arthashastra and Buddhist traditions; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M.K. Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, M.N. Roy .

Section-B

Indian Government and Politics
1. Indian Nationalism: Dadabhai Naoroji, Tilak, Savarkar, Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narain, Nehru, Subhas Bose, Ambedkar, Ram Manohar Lohia.
2. Nature and struggle of Indian freedom struggle : From constitutionalism to Mass Satyagraha, Revolutionary movements Non Co-operation, Civil disobedience and Quit India, Indian Naval uprising, Indian National Army; role of women in freedom struggle.
3. Socio- economic dimensions of the nationalist movement: The communal question and the demand for partition; backward caste movements, Trade union and Peasant movements, Civil rights movement.
4. Landmarks in Constitutional Development during British Rule: Morley-Minto Reforms; Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms; Simon Commission; Government of India Act, 1935; Cripps Mission : Indian Independence Act, 1947.
5. Salient Features of the Indian Constitution: The Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties, Directive Principles; federalism, parliamentary system; amending procedures; judicial review.
6. The Executive System in theory and practice: President, Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers; Governor, Chief Minister and the State Council of Ministers. The Bureaucracy.
7. Role and function of the Parliament and Parlimentary Committee-Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha; changing socio economic profile.
8. The Supreme Court and the High Courts; Judicial Activism; PIL.
9. Statutory institutions/commis sions-UPSC, Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Backward Classes Commission, National Commission for women; National Human Rights Commission; Minorities Commission.
10. Party system : ideology and social base of parties; fragmentation and regionalisation. Pressure groups; patterns of coalition politics; trends in electoral behaviour.
11. Class, caste, ethnicity and gender in Indian politics; politics of regionalism, communalism, backward class and Dalit movements, Tribal people movements, struggle for gender justice.
12. Planning and Economic Development : Role of the Planning Commission; Planning in the era of liberalisation; political dimensions of economic reforms.
13. Grassroots democracy : Panchayati Raj and municipal government; significance of 73rd and 74th Amendements. Grass root movement and women's empowerment.

Paper - II
Comparative Politics and International Relations

Section-A
Comparative Analysis and International Politics

1. Approaches to the study of comparative politics :
traditional approaches; political economy, political sociology or political system approaches; Nature of political process in the Third World.
2. The Modern State :
Evolution, the contemporary trends in the advanced industrial countries and the third world.
3. Development :
Strategies and contemporary discourse.
4. Concepts of International politics :
Power, national interest, balance of power, national security, collective security and peace.
5. Theories of International politics Marxist, Realist, Systems, Decision-making and Game Theory.
6. Determinants of foreign policy : Domestic compulsions, geopolitics, geoeconomics and global order.
7. Origin and contemporary relevance of the Cold War, nature of the post-cold war global order.
8. Major issues of world politics : Cuban Missile Crisis; Vietnam War, Oil Crisis, Afghan Civil War, Gulf War, Collapse of the Soviet Union, Yugoslav Crisis.
9. Non-alignment :
Concept and movement; Third World Movements for global justice, Non-alignment in the post cold war era.
10. The evolution of the international economic system-from Bretton woods to WTO, the North-South dimension.
11. International organisations UN and its specialized agencies :
International Court of Justice; ILO, UNICEF, WHO UNESCO.
12. Regional, organizations such as the ASEAN, APEC, EU, SAARC, NAFTA
13. Contemporary Global Concerns : Democracy, Human Rights, Ecology, Gender Justice, Global commons, Communication.

Section-B
India and the World

1. Indian Foreign Policy :
Historical origins, determinants; the institutions of policy-making; continuity and change.
2. India and the Non-Alignment Movement :
Evolution and contemporary relevance. Socio- political basis of non-alignment-domestic and global.
3. Major issues in Indian foreign policy :
Sino-Indian Border War (1962); Indo-Pakistan War (1971) and the liberation of Bangladesh; IPKF in Sri Lanka; India as military nuclear power (1998).
4. Conflict and co-operation in South Asia :
India's relations with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal. Regional co-operation and SAARC. Kashmir question in India's foreign policy.
5. India's relation with Africa and Latin America.
6. India and South East Asia; ASEAN.
7. India and the major powers : USA, EU, China, Japan and Russia.
8. India and the UN System : India's role in UN Peace Keeping and global disarmament.
9. India and the emerging international economic order; multilateral agencies-WTO, IMF, IBRD, ADB.
10. India and the question of nuclear weapons : NPT and CTBT.

More on Civil Services Examinations