UPSC CSE Political Science and International Relations Optional Syllabus

Political Theory and Indian Politics

1. Political Theory: meaning and approaches.
2. Theories of state : Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluiralist, 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.

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;
liberalization 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 Movement : Civil liberties and human rights movements; women’s
movements; environmentalist movements.