UPSC Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) Optional Syllabus 2026

Political Theory and Indian Politics

            Political Theory

Meaning and approaches.

Theories of the state

Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, post-colonial, and Feminist.

Justice

Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawls’ theory of justice and its communitarian critiques.

Equality

Social, political, and economic; the 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.

Political Ideologies

Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism, and 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 Government and Politics

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 the 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 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.

Grassroots Democracy

• Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government;

• Significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments;

• Grassroots 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;

• 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

• No Sub topics

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 Movement

• Civil liberties and human rights movements;

• Women’s movements;

• Environmentalist movements.

Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics

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 and 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, and 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 superpowers; 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 a 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, AARC, NAFTA.

Contemporary Global Concerns

Democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation.

India and the World

Indian Foreign Policy

• Determinants of foreign policy;

• The 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 prospects.

• South Asia as a Free Trade Area.

• India’s “Look East” policy. Impediments to regional cooperation:

• River water disputes;

• illegal cross-border migration;

• Ethnic conflicts and insurgencies;

• Border disputes.

India and the Global South

• Relations with Africa and Latin America;

• A leadership role in the demand for NIEO and WTO negotiations.

India and the Global Centres of Power

• USA, EU, Japan, China, and Russia.

India and the UN System

• Role in UN Peace-keeping;

• Demand for a 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 crises in Afghanistan, Iraq, and West Asia, and growing relations with the US and Israel;

• Vision of a new world order.

Paper 1

Paper 2

An Introduction to Political Theory by O.P. Gauba

The Globalization of World Politics by John Baylis, Steve Smith, and Patricia Owens

The Oxford Companion to Politics in India by Niraja Gopal Jayal and Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Theories of International Relations by Palgrave Publications

A History of Political Thought: Plato to Marx by Subrata Mukherjee and Sushila Ramaswamy

Indian Foreign Policy: An Overview by Harsh Pant

Western Political Thought: From Socrates to the Age of Ideology by Brian R. Nelson

Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches by Georg Sorenson and Robert Jackson

Modern Indian Political Thought: Text and Context by Bidyut Chakrabarty and Rajendra Kumar Pandey

IGNOU Materials

Rethinking Public Institutions in India by P.B. Mehta, Devesh Kapur, and Milan Vaishnav

IGNOU Materials