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Political Theory: meaning and approaches.
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Theories of state: Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, post-colonial and Feminist.
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Justice: Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawl’s theory of justice and its communitarian critiques.
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Equality: Social, political and economic; relationship between equality and freedom; Affirmative action.
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Rights: Meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; Concept of Human Rights.
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Democracy: Classical and contemporary theories; different models of democracy—representative, participatory and deliberative.
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Concept of power: hegemony, ideology and legitimacy.
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Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism.
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Indian Political Thought: Dharamshastra, Arthashastra and Buddhist Traditions; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M. K. Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar, M. N. Roy.
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Western Political Thought: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, John S. Mill, Marx, Gramsci, Hannah Arendt.
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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.
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Making of the Indian Constitution: Legacies of the British rule; different social and political perspectives.
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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.
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(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.
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Grassroots Democracy: Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government; Significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments; Grassroot movements.
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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.
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Federalism: Constitutional provisions; changing nature of centre-state relations; integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes.
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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.
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Caste, Religion and Ethnicity in Indian Politics.
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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.
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Social Movement: Civil liberties and human rights movements; women’s movements; environmentalist movements.
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Comparative Politics: Nature and major approaches; Political economy and political sociology perspectives; Limitations of the comparative method.
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State in Comparative Perspective: Characteristics and changing nature of the State in capitalist and socialist economies, and advanced industrial and developing societies.
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Politics of Representation and Participation: Political parties, pressure groups and social movements in advanced industrial and developing societies.
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Globalisation: Responses from developed and developing societies.
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Approaches to the Study of International Relations: Idealist, Realist, Marxist, Functionalist and Systems theory.
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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:
(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.
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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.
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United Nations: Envisaged role and actual record; Specialized UN agencies—aims and functioning; need for UN reforms.
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Regionalisation of World Politics: EU, ASEAN, APEC, AARC, NAFTA.
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Contemporary Global Concerns: Democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation.
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Indian Foreign Policy: Determinants of foreign policy; the institutions of policy-making; Continuity and change.
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India’s Contribution to the Non-Alignment Movement: Different phases; Current role.
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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.
(b) Impediments to regional co-operation: River water disputes; illegal cross border migration; Ethnic conflicts and insurgencies; Border disputes.
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India and the Global South: Relations with Africa and Latin America; Leadership role in the demand for NIEO and WTO negotiations.
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India and the Global Centres of Power: USA, EU, Japan, China and Russia.
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India and the UN System: Role in UN Peace-keeping; Demand for Permanent Seat in the Security Council.
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India and the Nuclear Question: Changing perceptions and policy.
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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.
