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PSIR Optional

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 Political Science & International Relations Syllabus

                                                 Part I:

Political Theory and Indian Politics

1.Political theory meaning and approaches

2.Theories of the state: Liberal, Neoliberal, 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, BR Ambedkar, MN Roy .

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


Indian Government and politics


1. Indian Nationalism: Political Strategies of India's Freedom struggle : constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience ; millitant and revolutionary movements, Peasant and workers' movements
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.Principal Organs of the Union Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the Executive, Legislature and Supreme Court.

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 Inst i tut ions/Commissions: Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Finance Commission, Union Public Service Commission, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Comission 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





                                          Part II:



Comparative Political Analysis and 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 globalisation.

7. Changing International Political Order: Rise of super powers; strategic and ideological Bipolarity, arms race and Cold War; nuclear threat;Non-aligned movement : Aims and achievements;

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. Regionalisation of World Politics: EU, ASEAN, APEC, SAARC, NAFTA.

11. Contemporary Global Concerns: Democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation.



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:

  • Regional Co-operation: SAARC  past performance and future prospects
  • South Asia as a Free Trade Area.
  • India's "Look East" policy
  • 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 crisis in Afghanistan, Iraq and West Asia, growing relations with US and Israel; vision of a new world order.

In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product, e.g. bananas, minerals, etc. In 1901, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighbouring countries under economic exploitation by U.S. corporations.