Civil Service Exam Syllabus for IAS Preliminary Exam – Political Science and International Relations

Civil Service Exam Syllabus (Preliminary) – Political Science and International Relations

Paper – 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, B.R. Ambedkar, M.N. Roy.
10. Western Political Thought: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, John S. Mill, Marx, Gramsci, Hannah Arendt.

Indian Government and Politics:

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; 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.

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; Transnational actors and collective security; World capitalist economy and globalisation.

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 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 :

(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 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.