Political Science Optional Syllabus for Civil Service Examination

There are 48 subjects from which an optional can be chosen and of these, a few have a considerable overlap with the syllabus of General Studies. At the same time, the IAS Examination goes through its toughest stages: Preliminary, Mains, and Interview. UPSC Mains Examination has nine papers, out of these, two are related to an optional subject. Political Science and International Relations is one of the optional subjects in this examination.

This is often called PSIR, and it’s popular because of the many study materials available. It deals with the freedom struggle of India, politics in India, the Constitution of India, the international economic system and trade, international organisations, the foreign policy of India, and peacekeeping—most of which find a place in the General Studies syllabus as well.

In the UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam, there are two papers under the Political Science optional: Paper I and Paper II, each of 250 marks, for a total of 500 marks.

Political Science Syllabus for UPSC Optional – Paper I

• Political Theory and Indian Politics :
  • Political Theory: meaning and approaches.
  • Theories of state: Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluiralist, 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; 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: Dharamshastra, 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

1.  Indian Nationalism:

1. Political Strategies of India’s Freedom Struggle

• Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience; Movements, Peasant and Workers Movements.
• Constitutionalism to mass Militant and Revolutionary

       a. 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; 
• liberalisation and economic reforms.
• Caste, Religion and Ethnicity in Indian Politics.

   9. 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.

 10. Social Movement : Civil liberties and human rights movements; 

• women’s movements; environmentalist movements.

Political Science Syllabus for UPSC Optional – Paper II

Comparative Politics and International Relations

• 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; 
• Transational actors and collective security; 
• World capitalist economy and globalisation.

7. Changing International Political Order :

     a. Rise of super powers; 

                i.Strategic and ideological Bipolarity, arms race and cold war; 

                ii.Nuclear threat;

      b. Non-aligned Movement: Aims and achievements.

      c. Collapse of the Soviet Union;

1. 1.  Unipolarity and American hegemony; 
   2. 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, AARC, 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; 
• the 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 crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and West Asia, growing relations with         US and Isreal; 

• Vision of a new world order.

The PSIR syllabus for UPSC remains very useful even after the IAS exam is cleared, as many of the concepts therein find application in government service. Many candidates are also interested in political science since it helps in successfully passing the UPSC IAS Exam.

This optional subject would suit candidates with different backgrounds, like international trade specialists, management consultants, teachers, and others. The aspirants for IAS need to integrate the preparation of PSIR with General Studies so that all concepts are properly absorbed and a high rank is achieved in the UPSC exam.

One of the reasons Political Science has remained a favorite among UPSC toppers time and again is that it requires a holistic grasp of the entire Political Science Optional Syllabus to aim for the mark in the optional paper and GS Paper II.