POLITICAL SCIENCE OPTIONAL UPSC

POLITICAL SCIENCE UPSC OPTIONAL CLASSROOM COACHING

POLITICAL SCIENCE OPTIONAL UPSC

POLITICAL SCIENCE OPTIONAL UPSC CSE

Programme Highlights

  • 4.5 Months Comprehensive Classes.
  • Complete UPSC Syllabus of PSIR
  • Coverage of New Theories and Commentaries “Special in Paper-1 Section-A, Paper-2 Section-A”
  • Test Series including 12 Tests (8 Sectional & 4 Mock)
  • Crisp and Relevant Material with focus on Current Trend
  • Discussion of Previous Year UPSC Question Papers & Most Importants Areas for Mains 2021
  • Innovative methodology of teaching, Application of different approaches mentioned in syllabus

POLITICAL SCIENCE OPTIONAL UPSC CSE

Procedure for Online Classes

ONLINE CLASSES
  • To enroll student has to register on the website using Registration Form or Google Login or Facebook Login.
  • If already registerd login with your username and password which you have used for registration.
  • Account for Online Classes will be activated within one working day of Enrollment or before batch Starts.
  • Classes will be conducted online as per the class schedule.
  • Weekly Class Schedule will be uploaded into students account with session plan and doubt clearing sessions schedule.
  • Study Material is into two formats i.e. printed and pdf.
  • Printed Study Material, if any will be dispatched by courier within a week of enrollment.
  • Soft Copy notes will be uploaded in PDF format into your account.

Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) as Optional

The issue of selecting optional subjects for Civil services examination is a delicate issue for many aspirants. The foremost criteria to choose an optional subject is based on interest of subject for aspirant and the optional having maximum convergence with GS syllabus so that optional preparation should rather help in GS preparation instead of reducing time for the latter.  Political Science and International relations (PSIR) as optional subject in UPSC Mains has emerged to be the most reliable subject to qualify the UPSC with high rank.

optional political science upsc civil service
POLITICAL SCIENCE OPTIONAL

DURATION IN MONTHS
Class Hours
Test Series

POLITICAL SCIENCE OPTIONAL UPSC CSE SYLLABUS

POLITICAL SCIENCE OPTIONAL UPSC CSE


Political Science & International Relations Optional Syllabus

Political Science & International Relations Optional Paper – I Syllabus

Political Theory and Indian Politics:

  1. Political Theory:meaning and approaches.
  2. Theories of the State:
  • Liberal,
  • Neoliberal,
  • Marxist,
  • Pluralist,
  • Post-colonial and
  • feminist.
  1. Justice:Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawl’s theory of justice and its communitarian critiques.
  2. Equality:Social, political and economic; relationship between equality and freedom; Affirmative action.
  3. Rights:Meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; concept of Human Rights.
  4. Democracy:
  • Classical and contemporary theories;
  • different models of democracy – representative, participatory and deliberative.
  1. Concept of power, hegemony, ideology and legitimacy.
  2. Political Ideologies:
  • Liberalism,
  • Socialism,
  • Marxism,
  • Fascism,
  • Gandhism and
  • Feminism.
  1. Indian Political Thought :
  • Dharamshastra,
  • Arthashastra and Buddhist traditions;
  • Sir Syed Ahmed Khan,
  • Sri Aurobindo,
  • M.K. Gandhi,
  • B.R. Ambedkar,
  • M.N. Roy .
  1. 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; Militant and revolutionary movements,
  • Peasant and workers’ movements.
  • Perspectives on Indian National Movement: Liberal, Socialist and Marxist; Radical humanist and Dalit.
  1. Making of the Indian Constitution:Legacies of the British rule; different social and political perspectives.
  2. 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.
  1. Principal Organs of the Government:
  • 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.
  1. Grassroots Democracy:Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government; significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments; Grassroot movements.
  2. 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.
  1. Federalism:
  • Constitutional provisions; changing nature of centre-state relations;
  • Integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes.
  1. 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.
  1. Caste, Religion and Ethnicityin Indian Politics.
  2. 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.
  1. Social Movements:
  • Civil liberties and human rights movements;
  • women’s movements;
  • environmentalist movements.

Political Science & International Relations Optional Paper – II Syllabus

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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. United Nations:Envisaged role and actual record; specialized UN agencies-aims and functioning; need for UN reforms.
  2. Regionalisation of World Politics:
  • EU,
  • ASEAN,
  • APEC,
  • SAARC,
  • NAFTA.
  1. 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.
  1. India and the Global South:Relations with Africa and Latin America; leadership role in the demand for NIEO and WTO negotiations.
  2. India and the Global Centres of Power:USA, EU, Japan, China and Russia.
  3. India and the UN System:Role in UN Peace-keeping; demand for Permanent Seat in the Security Council.
  4. India and the Nuclear Question:Changing perceptions and policy.
  5. 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

 

Books For Political Science Optional For UPSC IAS Mains

Books For Political Science Paper I

  • An Introduction To Constitution- D.D. Basu
  • An Introduction To Political Theory- O.P Gauba
  • Fifty Major Political Thinkers- Ian Adams And R W Dyson
  • A History Of Political Thought: Plato To Marx – Subrata Mukherjee And Sushila Ramaswamy
  • An Oxford Companion To Politics In India – Niraja Gopal Jayal And Pratap Bhanu Mehta
  • Foundations Of Indian Political Thought- V.R Mehta
  • A New Look At Modern Indian History- B.L Grover And Alka Mehta
  • India’s Struggle For Independence – Bipan Chandra
  • Indian Government And Politics – B L Fadia

Aspirants targeting UPSC 2021 can check the linked article.

Books For Political Science Paper-II

  • India’s Foreign Policy – V P Dutt
  • International Organisations- Spectrum Books Publication
  • International Relations – V N Khanna
  • Challenge And Strategy: Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy- Rajiv Sikri
  • Does The Elephant Dance?: Contemporary Indian Foreign Policy- David M. Malone
  • Global Politics- Andrew Heywood
  • MPS-004 Comparative Politics: Issues And Trends By Expert Panel Of GPH

Top of page