PSIR Optional for UPSC, taught the Rahul Puri way.

Section A · Political Theory & Thought

1. Political Theory — meaning and approaches
2. Theories of the State — Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, Post-colonial, Feminist
3. Justice (Rawls and after) · Equality · Rights
4. Democracy — Classical and Contemporary theories
5. Power, Hegemony, Ideology, Legitimacy
6. Political Ideologies — Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism, Feminism
7. Indian Political Thought — Dharamshastra, Arthashastra, Buddhist; Sir Syed, Aurobindo, Gandhi, Ambedkar, M.N. Roy
8. Western Political Thought — Plato to Hannah Arendt

Section B · Indian Government & Politics

1. Indian Nationalism — National Movement, social & economic dimensions, Partition
2. Making of the Indian Constitution
3. Salient Features of the Constitution
4. Principal Organs of the Union & State Governments
5. Grassroots Democracy
6. Statutory Institutions & Commissions (EC, CAG, FC, UPSC, NCW, NHRC, NCM, NCBC, NCST, NCSC)
7. Federalism
8. Planning & Economic Development
9. Caste, Religion & Ethnicity in Indian Politics
10. Party System · Social Movements

Section A · Comparative Politics & IR

1. Comparative Politics — nature and major approaches
2. State in Comparative Perspective — capitalist, socialist, developing societies
3. Politics of Representation and Participation
4. Globalisation — responses from developed and developing societies
5. Approaches to the study of International Relations
6. Key Concepts — national interest, security, power, balance of power, deterrence, collective security, globalisation
7. Changing International Political Order — Cold War, collapse of USSR, unipolarity, NAM
8. Evolution of the International Economic System — Bretton Woods to WTO, G-77, G-20
9. United Nations & its Specialised Agencies
10. Regionalisation — EU, ASEAN, APEC, SAARC, NAFTA
11. Contemporary Global Concerns — democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation

Section B · India and the World

1. Indian Foreign Policy — determinants, non-alignment, Nehru
2. India's contribution to NAM
3. India and South Asia — neighbours, SAARC, Look/Act East
4. India and the Global South
5. India and the Global Centres of Power — US, EU, Japan, China, Russia
6. India and the UN System — peacekeeping, UNSC reforms
7. India and the Nuclear Question
8. Recent developments in Indian Foreign Policy