UPSC Political Science and International Relationa Syllabus
Political Theory and Indian Politics
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; 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, S r i 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: Political Strategies of India's Freedom struggle :
constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience ; militant
and revolutionary movements, Peasant and workers' movements. 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. Principal
Organs of the Union Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the
Executive, Legislature and Supreme Court. 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; 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 Comission 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 centre-state relations; integrationist
tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes.
8.Planning
and Economic Development : Nehruvian and Gandhian perspectives; role of
planning and public sector; Green Revolution, land reforms and agrarian
relations; liberalilzation 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 behaviour; changing socio- economic profile of Legislators.
11.Social
Movements: Civil liberties and human rights movements; women's movements;
environmentalist
movements
PART II
Comparative Politics and International Relations
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 globalisation.
7.
Changing International Political Order:
Rise of
super powers; strategic and ideological Bipolarity, arms race and Cold War;
nuclear threat; Non-aligned movement : Aims and achievements; 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 Brettonwoods 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; 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 policymaking;
continuity
and change.
2. India's
Contribution to the Non-Alignment Movement: Different phases; current role
3. India
and South Asia: Regional Co-operation: SAARC – past performance and future
prospects. South Asia as a Free Trade Area. India's "Look East"
policy. 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; vision
of a new world order
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