UPSC MAINS POLITICAL SCIENCE SYLLABUS PAPER – I
Political Theory and Indian Politics:
Political Theory: meaning and approaches.
Theories of the State: Liberal, Neo-liberal, Pluralist, Marxist, Post-colonial, and feminist.
Justice: Conceptions of justice.Rawl’s theory of justice and its communitarian critiques.
Equality: Political, Social and economic; relationship between equality and freedom; Affirmative action.
Rights: Meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; concept of Human Rights.
Democracy: Classical theories and contemporary theories; different models of democracy – participatory, representative, and deliberative.
Concept of power, ideology, hegemony, and legitimacy.
Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Marxism, Socialism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism.
Indian Political Thought: Dharmashastra, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Arthashastra and Buddhist traditions; Sri Aurobindo, M.N. Roy, M.K. Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar.
Western Political Thought: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, Hobbes, John S. Mill, Marx, Gramsci, and Hannah Arendt.
Indian Government and Politics:
Indian Nationalism:
(a) India’s Freedom Struggle: Political Strategies, Constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Civil Disobedience, Liberal and Non-cooperation; Peasant and workers’ movements, Militant and revolutionary movements.
(b) Perspectives on Indian National Movement: Liberal andMarxist; Radical humanist and Dalit.
Making of the Indian Constitution:
Legacies of the British rule; various social and political perspectives.
Salient Features of the Indian Constitution: The Preamble, Directive Principles; Fundamental Rights and Duties, Parliamentary System and Constitutional Amendment Procedures; Judicial Review and Basic Structure doctrine.
(a) Principal Organs of the Union Government: role and actual working of thelegislature, Executive and Supreme Court.
(b) Principal Organs of the State Government: role and actual working of the Legislature, Executive, and High Courts.
Grassroots Democracy: Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government; Grass root movements , significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments;.
Statutory Institutions/Commissions: Election Commission, Finance Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, , Union Public Service Commission, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Women; National Commission for Minorities ,National Human Rights Commission, National Backward Classes Commission.
Federalism: Constitutional provisions related to; changing nature of state- center relations; integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes.
Planning and Economic Development : Gandhian and Nehruvian perspectives; role of planning and public sector; Green Revolution, land reforms and agrarian relations; liberalization and its impact and economic reforms.
Caste, Religion and Ethnicity in Indian Politics.
Party System: National and regional political parties, social base and ideological bases of parties; patterns of coalition politics; trends in electoral behavior; Pressure groups, changing socio- economic profile of Legislators.
Social Movements: Women’s movements; Civil liberties and human rights movements; environmentalist movements.
UPSC MAINS POLITICAL SCIENCE SYLLABUS PAPER – 2
Comparative Politics and International Relations
Comparative Politics: Nature and approaches; political economy and political sociology, perspectives and limitations of the comparative method.
Study of State in comparative perspective: Characteristics and changing nature of the State in socialist and capitalist economies and advanced industrial and developing societies.
Politics of Participation and Representation : Pressure groups, Political parties and social movements in advanced industrial and developing societies.
Globalization: Responses from different developing and developed societies.
Approaches to the Study of International Relations: Idealist, Realist, Functionalist, Marxist and Systems theory.
Key concepts in International Relations: National interest, Security and power; Transnational actors and collective security, Balance of power and deterrence; World capitalist economy and globalization.
Changing International Political Order:
(a) Rise of super powers; ideological and strategic Bipolarity, arms race and Cold War; nuclear threat;
(b) Non-aligned movement: Concept, Aims and achievements;
(c) Collapse of the Soviet Union; relevance of non-alignment in the contemporary world, Unipolarity and American hegemony.
Evolution of the International Economic System:
From Bretton woods to WTO; Socialist economies and the CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance); Globalization of the world economy, Third World demand for new international economic order.
United Nations:
Emergence, role and actual record: specialised agencies of UN and their aims and functioning; a need for UN reforms.
Regionalization of World Politics: APEC, EU, ASEAN, SAARC, NAFTA.
Contemporary Global Concerns: Democracy, environment, human rights, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation
India and the World:
Indian Foreign Policy: Determinants of foreign policy; continuity and change, institutions of policy-making.
India’s Contribution to the Non- Alignment Movement: Study of Different phases and current role.
India and South Asia:
(a) Regional Co-operation: SAARC – existence,past performance and future prospects.
(b) South Asia and concept of Free Trade Area.
(c) India and its “Look East” policy.
(d) Impediments to regional co-operation: illegal cross-border migration; river water disputes; ethnic conflicts and insurgencies; border disputes.
India and the Global South: Relations with Latin America and Africa ; leadership role in the demand for WTO and NIEO negotiations.
India and the Global Centers of Power: EU, USA, Japan, China and Russia.
India and the UN System: Its role in UN Peace-keeping; India’s demand for Permanent Seat in the Security Council.
India and the Nuclear Power Question: Changing perceptions and policy.
Recent developments in Indian Foreign policy: India and its position on the recent crisis in Iraq , Afghanistan, and West Asia, growing relations with Israel and US; vision of a new world order.
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