Syllabus PSIR

  

·          Syllabus of PSIR Paper - I

·          Political Theory and Indian Politics:

·          Political Theory: meaning and approaches.

·          Theories of state: Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, Post-colonial, and Feminist.

·          Justice: Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawl’s theory of justice and its communitarian critiques.

·          Equality: Social, political, and economic; the relationship between equality and freedom; Affirmative action.

·          Rights: Meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; Concept of Human Rights.

·          Democracy: Classical and contemporary theories; different models of democracy—representative, participatory and deliberative.

·          Concept of power: hegemony, ideology, and legitimacy.

·          Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism, and Feminism.

·          Indian Political Thought: Dharmashastra, Arthashastra, and Buddhist Traditions; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M. K. Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar, M. N. Roy.

·          Western Political Thought: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, John S. Mill, Marx, Gramsci, Hannah Arendt.

 

·          Indian Government and Politics

·          Indian Government and Politics
(a) Political Strategies of India’s Freedom Struggle: Constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Noncooperation, Civil Disobedience; Militant and Revolutionary Movements, Peasant and Workers Movements.
(b) 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.

·          (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. 

·          Grassroots Democracy: Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government; Significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments; Grassroot movements.

·          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.

·          Federalism: Constitutional provisions; changing nature of center-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; liberalization 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 behavior; changing socio-economic profile of Legislators.