PSIR (Political Science and International Relations)

• Political Theorymeaning and approaches.
• Theories of stateLiberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluiralist, post-colonial and Feminist.
• JusticeConceptions of justice with special reference to Rawl’s theory of justice and its communitarian critiques.
• Equality
  • Social, political and economic
  • 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 powerhegemony, ideology and legitimacy.
• Political IdeologiesLiberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism.
• Indian Political Thought
  • Dharamshastra, Arthashastra and Buddhist Traditions
  • Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M. K. Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar, M. N. Roy.
• Western Political ThoughtPlato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, John S. Mill, Marx, Gramsci, Hannah Arendt.

Indian Government and Politics

• 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.
• 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.
• Principal Organs of the Union GovernmentEnvisaged role and actual working of the Executive, Legislature and Supreme Court.
• Principal Organs of the State GovernmentEnvisaged 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 centre-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 behaviour
  • changing socio-economic profile of Legislators.
• Social Movement
  • Civil liberties and human rights movements
  • women’s movements
  • environmentalist movements.

Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics

• Comparative Politics
  • Nature and major approaches
  • Political economy and political sociology perspectives
  • Limitations of the comparative method.
• State in Comparative PerspectiveCharacteristics and changing nature of the State in capitalist and socialist economies, and advanced industrial and developing societies.
• Politics of Representation and ParticipationPolitical parties, pressure groups and social movements in advanced industrial and developing societies.
• GlobalisationResponses from developed and developing societies.
• Approaches to the Study of International RelationsIdealist, Realist, Marxist, Functionalist and Systems theory.
• Key Concepts in International Relations
  • National interest, security and power
  • Balance of power and deterrence
  • Transational actors and collective security
  • World capitalist economy and globalisation.
• 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.
• 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.
• United Nations
  • Envisaged role and actual record
  • Specialized UN agencies—aims and functioning
  • need for UN reforms.
• Regionalisation of World PoliticsEU, ASEAN, APEC, AARC, NAFTA.
• Contemporary Global ConcernsDemocracy, human rights, environment, gender justice terrorism, nuclear proliferation.

India and the World

• Indian Foreign Policy
  • Determinants of foreign policy
  • the institutions of policy-making
  • Continuity and change.
• India’s Contribution to the Non-Alignment Movement
  • Different phases
  • Current role.
• 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.
• India and the Global South
  • Relations with Africa and Latin America
  • Leadership role in the demand for NIEO and WTO negotiations.
• India and the Global Centres of PowerUSA, EU, Japan, China and Russia.
• India and the UN System
  • Role in UN Peace-keeping
  • Demand for Permanent Seat in the Security Council.
• India and the Nuclear QuestionChanging perceptions and policy.
• Recent developments in Indian Foreign Policy
  • India’s position on the recent crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and West Asia, growing relations with US and Israel
  • Vision of a new world order.