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Political Science & IR

Syllabus 

Paper-1

Section A: Political Theory and Indian Politics

      • Political theory: meaning and approaches.
      • Theories of the state: Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, Post-colonial and feminist.
      • Justice: Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawl’s theory of justice and its communitarian critiques.
      • Equality: Social, political and economic; the relationship between equality and freedom; Affirmative action.
      • Rights: Meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; the concept of Human Rights.
      • Democracy: Classical and contemporary theories; different models of democracy-representative, participatory and deliberative.
      • Concept of power: hegemony, ideology and legitimacy.
      • Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism.
      • Indian Political Thought: Dharmashastra, Arthashastra and Buddhist traditions; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M.K. Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, M.N. Roy.
      • Western Political Thought: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, John S. Mill, Marx, Gramsci, Hannah Arend

Section B: Indian Government and Politics

      • 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.
      • Making of the Indian Constitution: Legacies of the British rule; different social and political perspectives.
      • 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.
      • 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.
      • Grassroots Democracy: Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government; the significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments; Grassroot movements.
      • 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.
      • Federalism: Constitutional provisions; changing nature of centre-state relations; integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes.
      • 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.
      • Caste, Religion and Ethnicity in Indian Politics.
      • 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.
      • Social Movements: Civil liberties and human rights movements; women’s movements; environmentalist movements

Paper-2

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.
      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:
        1. (a) Rise of superpowers; strategic and ideological Bipolarity, arms race and Cold War; nuclear threat;
        2. (b) Non-aligned movement: Aims and achievements;
        3. (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.

Section B: 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:
        1. Regional Co-operation: SAARC-past performance and future prospects.
        2. South Asia as a Free Trade Area.
        3. India’s “Look East” policy.
        4. 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; the vision of new world order.