UPSC PSIR Paper 1 Syllabus

Political Theory - Paper 1A

  1. Political theory - meaning and approaches
  2. Theories of State
    • Liberal
    • Neo-Liberal
    • Marxist
    • Pluralist
    • Post-colonial
    • Feminist
  3. Justice  
    • Conception of Justice with special reference to Rawl's theory of Justice and
    • Its communitarian critique
  4. Equality
    • Social
    • Political and
    • Economic
    • Relationship between equality and freedom
    • Affirmative action
  5. Rights
    • Meaning and Theories
    • Different kind of Rights
    • Conception of Human Rights
  6. Democracy
    • Classical and Contemporary theories
    • Different models of Democracy
      • Representative
      • Participative and 
      • Deliberative
  7. Concept of Power
    • Hegemony
    • Ideology
    • Legitimacy
  8. Political Ideologies
    • Liberalism
    • Marxism
    • Socialism
    • Fascism
    • Gandhism and 
    • Feminism
  9. Indian Political Thought
    • Dharmashastra
    • Arthashastra
    • Buddhist Traditions
    • Sir Syed Ahmad 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 - Paper 1B
  1. Indian Nationalism:
    • Political strategies of India's freedom struggle
      • Constitutionalism to Mass Satyagraha
      • Non-Cooperation
      • Civil Disobedience
      • Militant and Revolutinary Movements
      • Peasant and Workers Movements
    • 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 Indian Constitution
    • Preamble
    • Fundamental Rights and Duties
    • Directive Principles
    • Parliamentary System and Amendment Procedures
    • Judicial Review and 
    • Basic Structure Doctrine
  4. Principle Organs of the Union Government
    • Envisaged role and actual working of the 
      • Executive
      • Legislative and
      • Supreme Court
    • Executive, Legislative and Judiciary (High Court) of the State Government
  5. Grassroot Democracy - Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government
    • Significance of 73rd and 74th Amendment
    • 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 reforms 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 legislator
  11. Social Movement :
    • Civil liberties and Human Rights Movements
    • Women's movements
    • Environmentalist movements























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