NCERT Indian Polity Notes for UPSC Exam 2024

Last Updated : 11 Jan, 2024

Polity Notes for UPSC Exam: If you are preparing for the UPSC civil services exam, you would be aware that political science is an unavoidable and most looked-upon section of the UPSC syllabus – both for the IAS UPSC prelims and the mains. It is also available as an optional subject in the UPSC main exams. This article discusses the most important topics of political science for UPSC Prelims, UPSC Mains, and General Studies Paper 2. GeeksforGeeks has brought Important Topics of Political Science to you which can help you get your political science queries solved.

Polity Notes for UPSC

UPSC Notes For UPSC Exam:

Most Important Polity Notes for UPSC Exam

It is important that you have a strong interest in the topic before selecting it as an option. If you are interested in political science, read the UPSC political science topic-wise important questions thoroughly.

Polity Syllabus for UPSC Preliminary Examination

The UPSC examination syllabus for Polity Prelims is given here:

Political system
Indian polity and governance- Constitution
Rights Issues, Panchayati Raj Public Policy, etc.

Below you can find the comprehensive topics of the UPSC Preliminary Polity Syllabus:

Topics	Polity Syllabus
Preamble	Terms in the Preamble 42nd Amendment Swaran Singh committee
Constitution of India	Historical Background Drafting committee and making scheme of the Constitution Influence of other constitutions Its salient features Union and its Territory (Basic idea about Article 1-4, Federal nature, State reorganization, and different Commissions, Recent issues)
Citizenship	Basic idea about Article 5-11 PIO, NRI, OCI, FRsFDs Citizenship Amendment Act 2016 Schemes, new policies, and recent changes in voting.
Fundamental Rights	Basic idea about Article 12-35 44th amendment act Different types of Writs Enforcement and Exceptional cases with regard to FR Recent issues related to FR
Fundamental Duties	Article 51A Difference between FR and FD Significance and Criticism Enforcement of FD Recent issues with, FD
Directive Principles of State Policy	Basic idea about Article 36-51 and Article 368 Sources and key features of DPSP Classification of DPSP Comparison or conflicts between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles Keshavananda Bharati, Golaknath Case, Minerva Mills, Maneka Gandhi case. Important Amendments- 42nd Amendment, 44th Amendment, and 97th amendment
Union	Basic idea about Article 52-73 Qualification and Election of President and vice-president Function and Powers of the president– (Executive, Legislative, Financial, Judicial, Diplomatic, Military and Emergency Powers) Prime minister and council of minister Resignation and impeachment of the president Role and responsibilities of Prime minister, Cabinet ministers, Council of Ministers. Resignation and Removal of vice president Powers and Functions of the law-making STsCouncil of ministers Attorney general
Parliament	Basic idea about Articles related to Role and functions of the Parliament Motions, Sessions, Parliamentary procedure – Zero Hour, Summoning, Prorogation, and Joint sitting. Parliamentary proceedings like Adjournment Motion, Question Hour etc. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Special powers of Rajya Sabha Anti-defection law and 10th schedule Parliamentary Privileges Bill and law making procedure Budget, funds and its summary Parliamentary Committees
Judiciary	Basic idea about the judiciary. Powers of High Court and Supreme court Qualification and appointment Removal procedure Recent controversy, verdicts, and constitutional provisions.
State Government- State Executive	Governor– appointment, and special powers. Executive, Legislative, Financial, Judicial powers and discretionary powers of the governor 7th constitutional amendment Chief minister and the council of ministers Power of chief minister
State Legislature	State legislature compared to the Parliament with regard to powers, composition, and functions. Bicameral legislature Creation and abolition of the Legislative councils
Administration of Special Areas	Basic idea about 5^thSchedule and 6th Schedule Recent problems related to Administration of Special Areas Special provision for states Article 371
Emergency Provisions	National Emergency- Article 352 President’s rule or State emergency- Article 356 Financial Emergency-Article 360 44th amendment act Effects and implications of emergency Role of President in emergency time The State of FR, Lok sabha, and Rajya sabha Revoking Emergency
Panchayati raj and municipalities	Elections, auditing, powers and authority of panchayats 3 tier structure 73rd Amendment Act and 74th Amendment Act Relation with FR and DPSP Schemes introduced Metropolitan planning committee and urban development Reservation
Constitutional Bodies	Election Commission UPSC SPSC JPSC Finance Commission National Commission for SCs and STs, Composition, Powers and functions, Removal of the Constitutional bodies
Current Affairs	Recent issues related to the above-mentioned categories Important schemes, programs, missions, laws, and policies launched by the government. Recent Government Bills and Governance- actions

Tips for UPSC Exam On Polity Subject:

The Constitution is the bible of civil service aspirants. The ways to understand the Indian Polity UPSC Notes are stated below:

Read the articles carefully. This will assist you in developing a fundamental grasp of each Article. This approach needs repeated reading. The more you read, the more you’ll remember.
Prepare a brief message with highlighted keywords that is pragmatically related to a current topic. The goal should be to extract the essence of the required knowledge according to the UPSC curriculum.
Refer to the UPSC previous year’s papers and begin tackling question papers.
Go for NCERT books (Class XI – Political Science: Indian Constitution at Work (New), Class XII – Political Science I: Contemporary World Politics (New), Class XII – Political Science II: Politics in India since Independence(New)).
Read Newspapers like The Hindu, Indian Express, and Kurukshetra Magazines.