Political Science and International Relations (Optional) Syllabus – Civil Services Mains Exam UPSC

1. Political Theory: meaning and approaches.

2. Theories of the State: Liberal, Neoliberal, 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; the relationship between equality and freedom; Affirmative action.

5. Rights: Meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; the 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: Dharmashastra, Arthashastra, and Buddhist traditions; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M.K. Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, M.N. Roy.

10. Western Political Thought: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, John S. Mill, Marx, Gramsci, Hannah Arendt.

Indian Government and Politics:

1. Indian Nationalism:

(a) Political Strategies of India’s Freedom Struggle: Constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience; Militant and revolutionary movements, Peasant and workers’ movements.

(b) Perspectives on Indian National Movement: Liberal, Socialist, and Marxist; Radical humanist and Dalit.

2. Making of the Indian Constitution: Legacies of the British rule; different social and political perspectives.

3. Salient Features of the Indian Constitution: The Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties, Directive Principles; Parliamentary System and Amendment Procedures; Judicial Review and Basic Structure doctrine.

4. (a) Principal Organs of the Union Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the Executive, Legislature, and Supreme Court.

(b) Principal Organs of the State Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the Executive, Legislature, and High Courts.

5. Grassroots Democracy: Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government; the significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments; Grassroot movements.

6. Statutory Institutions/Commissions: Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Finance Commission, Union Public Service Commission, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Women; National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Minorities, National Backward Classes Commission.

7. Federalism: Constitutional provisions; changing nature of center-state relations; integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes.

8. Planning and Economic Development: Nehruvian and Gandhian perspectives; the role of planning and public sector; Green Revolution, land reforms and agrarian relations; liberalization and economic reforms.

9. Caste, Religion, and Ethnicity in Indian Politics.

10. Party System: National and regional political parties, ideological and social bases of parties; patterns of coalition politics; Pressure groups, trends in electoral behavior; changing socio-economic profile of Legislators.

11. Social Movements: Civil liberties and human rights movements; women’s movements; environmentalist movements.

Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics:

1. Comparative Politics: Nature and major approaches; political economy and political sociology perspectives; limitations of the comparative method.

2. State in comparative perspective: Characteristics and changing nature of the State in capitalist and socialist economies, and, advanced industrial and developing societies.

3. Politics of Representation and Participation: Political parties, pressure groups, and social movements in advanced industrial and developing societies.

4. Globalisation: Responses from developed and developing societies.

5. Approaches to the Study of International Relations: Idealist, Realist, Marxist, Functionalist, and Systems theory.

6. Key concepts in International Relations: National interest, Security and power; Balance of power and deterrence; Transnational actors and collective security; World capitalist economy and globalization.

7. Changing International Political Order:

(a) Rise of superpowers; strategic and ideological Bipolarity, arms race and Cold War; nuclear threat;

(b) Non-aligned movement: Aims and achievements;

(c) Collapse of the Soviet Union; Unipolarity and American hegemony; relevance of non-alignment in the contemporary world.

8. Evolution of the International Economic System: From Bretton woods to WTO; Socialist economies and the CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance); Third World demand for new international economic order; Globalisation of the world economy.

9. United Nations: Envisaged role and actual record; specialized UN agencies-aims and functioning; the need for UN reforms.

10. Regionalisation of World Politics: EU, ASEAN, APEC, SAARC, NAFTA.

11. Contemporary Global Concerns: Democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation.

India and the World:

1. Indian Foreign Policy: Determinants of foreign policy; institutions of policy-making; continuity and change.

2. India’s Contribution to the Non-Alignment Movement: Different phases; current role.

3. India and South Asia:

(a) Regional Co-operation: SAARC – past performance and future prospects.

(b) South Asia as a Free Trade Area.

(c) India’s “Look East” policy.

(d) Impediments to regional co-operation: river water disputes; illegal cross-border migration; ethnic
conflicts and insurgencies; border disputes.

4. India and the Global South: Relations with Africa and Latin America; leadership role in the demand for NIEO and WTO negotiations.

5. India and the Global Centres of Power: USA, EU, Japan, China, and Russia.

6. India and the UN System: Role in UN Peace-keeping; demand for Permanent Seat in the Security Council.

7. India and the Nuclear Question: Changing perceptions and policy.

8. Recent developments in Indian Foreign policy: India’s position on the recent crisis in Afghanistan, Iraq, and West Asia, growing relations with US and Israel; a vision of new world order.