PAPER-IA Political Theory and Indian Politics:
1. Political Theory:
a. Meaning and Approaches
2. Theories of state:
a. Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, post-colonial and Feminist
3. Justice:
a. Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawl’s theory of
justice and its communitarian critiques
4. Equality:
a. Social, political and economic
b. Relationship between equality and freedom
c. Affirmative action
5. Rights:
a. Meaning and theories
b. Different kinds of rights
c. Concept of Human Rights
6. Democracy:
a. Classical and Contemporary theories
b. Different models of democracy—Representative, Participatory and
Deliberative
7. Concept of power:
a. Hegemony, Ideology and legitimacy
8. Political Ideologies:
a. Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism
9. Indian Political Thought:
a. Dharamshastra, Arthashastra & Buddhist Traditions; Sir Syed
Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M.K.Gandhi, B.R.Ambedkar, M.N.Roy.
10. Western Political Thought:
a. Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, John Locke, S. Mill, Marx,
Gramsci, Hannah Arendt
PAPER - 1B Indian Government and Politics:
1. Indian Nationalism:
a. Political Strategies of India’s Freedom Struggle:
i. Constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Non-
cooperation, Civil Disobedience
ii. 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:
a. Legacies of the British rule
b. Different social and political perspectives
3. Salient Features of the Indian Constitution:
a. The Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties, Directive
Principles
b. Parliamentary System and Amendment Procedures
c. Judicial Review and Basic Structure doctrine
4. Principal Organs of the:
a. Union Government: Envisaged role and actual working of
the Executive, Legislature and Supreme Court
b. State Government: Envisaged role and actual working of
the Executive, Legislature and High Courts
5. Grassroots Democracy:
a. Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government
b. Significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments
c. Grassroot movements
6. Statutory Institutions/Commissions:
a. EC, FC, CAG, UPSC
b. NCSC, NCST, NCBC, NCW, NCM, NHRC
7. Federalism:
a. Constitutional provisions
b. Changing nature of centre-state relations
c. Integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations
d. Inter-state disputes
8. Planning and Economic development:
a. Nehruvian and Gandhian perspectives
b. Role of planning and public sector
c. Green Revolution, land reforms and agrarian relations
d. Liberalization and economic reforms
9. Caste, Religion and Ethnicity in Indian Politics
10. Party System:
a. National and regional political parties, ideological and social
bases of parties
b. Patterns of coalition politics
c. Pressure groups
d. Trends in electoral behaviour
e. Changing socioeconomic profile of Legislators
11. Social Movement:
a. Civil liberties and human rights movements
b. Women's movements
c. Environmentalist movements
PAPER - 2A Comparative Politics and International Relations
Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics:
1. Comparative Politics:
a. Nature and major approaches
b. Political economy and political sociology perspectives
c. Limitations of the comparative method
2. State in Comparative Perspective:
a. Characteristics and changing nature of the State in capitalist
and socialist economies, and advanced industrial and
developing societies
3. Politics of Representation and Participation:
a. Political parties, pressure groups and social movements in
advanced industrial and developing societies
4. Globalisation:
a. Responses from developed and developing societies
5. Approaches to the Study of International Relations:
a. Idealist, Realist, Marxist, Functionalist and Systems theory
6. Key Concepts in International Relations:
a. National interest, security and power
b. Balance of power and deterrence
c. Transational actors and collective security
d. 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. Non-aligned 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:
a. From Brettonwoods to WTO
b. Socialist economies and the CMEA (Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance)
c. Third World demand for new international economic order
d. Globalisation of the world economy
9. United Nations:
a. Envisaged role and actual record
b. Specialized UN agencies - aims and functioning
c. Need for UN reforms.
10. Regionalisation of World Politics:
a. EU, ASEAN, APEC, AARC, NAFTA.
11. Contemporary Global Concerns:
a. Democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice
terrorism, nuclear proliferation.
PAPER – 2B India and the World:
1. Indian Foreign Policy:
a. Determinants of foreign policy
b. Institutions of policy-making
c. Continuity and change
2. India’s Contribution to the Non-Alignment Movement:
a. Different phases, Current role
3. India and South Asia:
a. Regional Co-operation: SAARC-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:
a. Relations with Africa and Latin America
b. Leadership role in the demand for NIEO and WTO negotiations
5. India and the Global Centres of Power:
a. USA, EU, Japan, China and Russia
6. India and the UN System:
a. Role in UN Peace-keeping
b. Demand for Permanent Seat in the Security Council
7. India and the Nuclear Question:
a. Changing perceptions and policy
8. Recent developments in Indian Foreign Policy:
a. India’s position on the recent crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and West
Asia
b. Growing relations with US and Isreal
c. Vision of a new world order
