Political Science UPSC Optional Previous Year Question Paper

PAPER 1 : PART [A]

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, Gandhi’s and
Feminism.
9. Indian Political Thought: Dharam shastra, 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.

Political Science PSIR PAPER 1 : PART [B]

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 behavior; changing socio- economic profile of Legislators.
11. Social Movements: Civil liberties and human rights movements; women’s
movements; environmentalist movements

Political Science PSIR PAPER 2 : [PART A] :

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. Globalization: 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) 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: From Bretton woods to WTO;
Socialist economies and the CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance); Third
World demand for new international economic order; Globalization 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.

Political Science PSIR PART 2 (A) :

Comparative Politics and International Politics

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-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 Centre’s of Power: USA, EU, Japan, China and Russia.
6. The UN System and India : 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.

Political Science PSIR Optional Question Papers (Year-wise) 2022 – 2010

Sample

PSIR Optional Question Papers (Topic-wise) 2022 – 1991

Sample

Political Science Books for UPSC

For Basic Understanding you follow NCERT Books :  

• (A) NCERT Class IX – Political Science: Democratic Politics Part – I
• (B) NCERT Class X – Political Science: Democratic Politics Part – II
• (C) NCERT Class XI – Political Science: Indian Constitution at Work
• (D) NCERT Class XI – Political Science: Political Theory
• (E) NCERT Class XII – Political Science I: Contemporary World Politics
• (F) NCERT Class XII – Political Science II: Politics in India since Independence

For Advance Understanding follow Books for Paper I

• An introduction to Political Theory-  O.P. Gauba
• An introduction to Constitution- D.D. Basu
• Indian Polity – Laxmikanth
• A History of Political Thought: Plato to Marx – Mukherjee and Sushila Ramaswamy
• India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra
• Politics in India – Rajni Kothari

For Advance Understanding follow Books for Paper II

• Does the Elephant Dance? – David Malone
• India’s Foreign Policy – V.P. Dutt
• Challenge and Strategy: Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy- Rajiv Sikri
• Global politics- Andrew Heywood

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