UPSC PSIR Optional Syllabus — Political Science & International Relations

I

Paper I — Political Theory & Indian Politics

Section A covers political theory and thought, Western and Indian. Section B covers Indian government and politics, from the national movement to today's party system and social movements.

Section A — Political Theory and Thought

1

Political Theory & Theories of the State

Political theory — meaning and approaches
Theories of the state — Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, Post-colonial and Feminist
Concept of power — hegemony, ideology and legitimacy

2

Justice, Equality, Rights & Democracy

Justice — conceptions of justice, with special reference to Rawls' theory of justice and its communitarian critiques
Equality — social, political and economic; relationship between equality and freedom; affirmative action
Rights — meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; concept of human rights
Democracy — classical and contemporary theories; representative, participatory and deliberative models

3

Political Ideologies & Indian Political Thought

Ideologies — Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism
Dharmashastra, Arthashastra and Buddhist traditions
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M.K. Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, M.N. Roy

4

Western Political Thought

Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli
Hobbes, Locke, John Stuart Mill
Marx, Gramsci, Hannah Arendt

Section B — Indian Government and Politics

5

Indian Nationalism & Making of the Constitution

Political strategies of the freedom struggle — constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience; militant and revolutionary movements; peasant and workers' movements
Perspectives on the national movement — Liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Radical Humanist and Dalit
Making of the Constitution — legacies of British rule; different social and political perspectives

6

Constitution & Organs of Government

Salient features — Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties, Directive Principles; parliamentary system and amendment procedures; judicial review and basic structure doctrine
Union Government — executive, legislature and Supreme Court
State Government — executive, legislature and High Courts

7

Grassroots Democracy, Institutions & Federalism

Panchayati Raj and municipal government; 73rd and 74th Amendments; grassroots movements
Statutory institutions and commissions — Election Commission, CAG, Finance Commission, UPSC, National Commissions for SCs, STs, Women and Minorities, NHRC, National Backward Classes Commission
Federalism — constitutional provisions; changing centre–state relations; integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes

8

Development, Society & Party Politics

Planning and economic development — Nehruvian and Gandhian perspectives; planning and the public sector; Green Revolution, land reforms and agrarian relations; liberalisation and economic reforms
Caste, religion and ethnicity in Indian politics
Party system — national and regional parties and their social bases; coalition politics; pressure groups; electoral behaviour; changing socio-economic profile of legislators
Social movements — civil liberties and human rights, women's and environmental movements

II

Paper II — Comparative Politics & International Relations

Section A covers comparative politics and the theory and history of international relations. Section B applies them to India's foreign policy and its place in the world.

Section A — Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics

1

Comparative Politics

Nature and major approaches — political economy and political sociology perspectives; limitations of the comparative method
The state in comparative perspective — capitalist and socialist economies; advanced industrial and developing societies
Politics of representation and participation — parties, pressure groups and social movements
Globalisation — responses from developed and developing societies

2

IR Theory & Key Concepts

Approaches — Idealist, Realist, Marxist, Functionalist and Systems theory
National interest, security and power; balance of power and deterrence
Transnational actors and collective security; world capitalist economy and globalisation

3

Changing World Order & Global Economy

Rise of the superpowers; bipolarity, arms race and the Cold War; nuclear threat
Non-Aligned Movement — aims and achievements; its relevance today
Collapse of the Soviet Union; unipolarity and American hegemony
International economic system — Bretton Woods to WTO; socialist economies and CMEA; Third World demand for NIEO

4

UN, Regionalism & Global Concerns

United Nations — envisaged role and actual record; specialised agencies; need for UN reforms
Regionalisation of world politics — EU, ASEAN, APEC, SAARC, NAFTA
Contemporary global concerns — democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation

Section B — India and the World

5

Indian Foreign Policy

Determinants of foreign policy; institutions of policy-making; continuity and change
India's contribution to the Non-Aligned Movement — different phases; current role

6

India and South Asia

Regional co-operation — SAARC's past performance and future prospects; South Asia as a free trade area
India's Look East (now Act East) policy
Impediments to regional co-operation — river water disputes, illegal cross-border migration, ethnic conflicts and insurgencies, border disputes

7

India, the Global South & Centres of Power

Relations with Africa and Latin America; leadership role in NIEO and WTO negotiations
India and the global centres of power — USA, EU, Japan, China and Russia
India and the UN system — role in UN peacekeeping; demand for a permanent seat in the Security Council

8

Nuclear Policy & Recent Developments

India and the nuclear question — changing perceptions and policy
Recent developments — India's position on crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and West Asia
Growing relations with the US and Israel; India's vision of a new world order

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