PSIR Optional

Political Theory

• Meaning and approaches

Theories of the State

• Liberal

• Neoliberal

• Marxist

• Pluralist

• Post-colonial

• Feminist

Justice

• Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawls' 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

• Power

• Hegemony

• Ideology

• Legitimacy

Political Ideologies

• Liberalism

• Socialism

• Marxism

• Fascism

• Gandhism

• 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 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

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 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

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 Movements

• Civil liberties and human rights movements

• Women's movements

• Environmentalist movements

Comparative Politics

• Nature and major approaches

• Political economy and political sociology perspectives

• Limitations of the comparative method

State in comparative perspective

• Characteristics and changing nature of the State in capitalist and socialist economies

• Characteristics and changing nature of the State in advanced industrial and developing societies

Politics of Representation and Participation

• Political parties, pressure groups and social movements in advanced industrial and developing societies

Globalisation

• Responses from developed and developing societies

Approaches to the Study of International Relations

• Idealist

• Realist

• Marxist

• Functionalist

• Systems theory

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

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

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

• 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 Politics

• EU

• ASEAN

• APEC

• SAARC

• NAFTA

Contemporary Global Concerns

• Democracy

• Human rights

• Environment

• Gender justice

• Terrorism

• Nuclear proliferation

Indian Foreign Policy

• Determinants of foreign policy

• Institutions of policy-making

• Continuity and change

India's Contribution to the Non-Alignment Movement

• Different phases

• Current role

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

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 Power

• USA

• EU

• Japan

• China

• Russia

India and the UN System

• Role in UN Peace-keeping

• Demand for Permanent Seat in the Security Council

India and the Nuclear Question

• Changing perceptions and policy

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