PSIR

PSIR Syllabus

PAPER 1
Paper 1 Part A
Political Theory and Political Thought


1.Political theory: meaning and approaches.
2.Theories of the state: Liberal, Neo-liberal, 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,
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.

Paper 1 Part B
Indian Government and politics

  • Indian Nationalism:
    o Political Strategies of India’s Freedom struggle : constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Noncooperation, Civil Disobedience ; millitant and revolutionary movements, Peasant and workers’
    movements.
    o 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.
    o a) Principal Organs of the Union Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the
    Executive, Legislature and Supreme Court.
    o 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; significance of 73rd and 74th
    Amendments; Grassroot movements.
  • Statutory Inst i tut ions/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.
  • 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; role of planning
    and public sector; Green Revolution, land reforms and agrarian relations; liberalilzation 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 socioeconomic profile of Legislators.
  • Social Movements: Civil liberties and human rights movements; women’s movements;
    environmentalist movements

PSIR paper 2 Syllabus

Paper 2 Part A
Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics:

  • Comparative Politics: Nature and major approaches; political economy and political sociology
    perspectives; limitations of the comparative method.
  • State in comparative perspective: Characteristics and changing nature of the State in capitalist and
    socialist economies, and, advanced industrial and developing societies.
  • Politics of Representation and Participation: Political parties, pressure groups and social
    movements in advanced industrial and developing societies.
  • Globalisation: Responses from developed and developing societies.
  • Approaches to the Study of International Relations: Idealist, Realist, Marxist, Functionalist and
    Systems theory.
  • 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.
  • Changing International Political Order:
    o Rise of super powers; strategic and ideological Bipolarity, arms race and Cold War; nuclear
    threat;
    o Non-al igned movement : Aims and achievements;
    o Collapse of the Soviet Union; Unipolarity and American hegemony; relevance of nonalignment in the contemporary world.
  • 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.
  • United Nations: Envisaged role and actual record; specialized UN agencies-aims and functioning;
    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.