Syllabus Of PSIR OPTIONAL
PAPER - I : POLITICAL THEORY AND INDIAN POLITICS
SECTION A- Political Theory
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, and Hannah Arendt.
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SECTION B- Indian Government and Politics
1. Indian Nationalism:
a. Political Strategies of India’s Freedom Struggle: Constitutionalism to
mass Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience; Militant and
revolutionary movements, Peasant and workers’ movements.
b. 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. (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.
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 Commission 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.
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PAPER II : Comparative Politics and International Relations
Section A- Comparative Political Analysis & 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 globalization.
7. Changing International Political Order:
(a) Rise of super powers; strategic and ideological Bipolarity, arms race
and Cold War; nuclear threat;
(b) Nonaligned movement: Aims and achievements;
(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 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.Regionalization of World Politics: EU, ASEAN, APEC, SAARC,
NAFTA.
11.Contemporary Global Concerns: Democracy, human rights,
environment, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation.
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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:
(a) Regional Co-operation: SAARC‘s past performance
and future prospects.
(b) South Asia as a Free Trade Area.
(c) India’s Look East policy.
(d) 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 crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and
West Asia, growing relations with US and Israel; vision
of a new world order.
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