UPSC PSIR Optional Question Paper 2026: Paper I and Paper II, All Questions
Every question from UPSC PSIR optional Paper I and Paper II 2026, with marks, syllabus unit tags, a unit-wise marks split and linked model answers.
The UPSC PSIR optional paper 2026 is reproduced in full below: Paper I (Political Theory and Indian Politics) and Paper II (Comparative Politics, International Relations and India and the World), every question with its marks and the syllabus unit it came from. Each paper printed 8 questions worth 400 marks, and you attempt 5 for 250 marks in three hours. Questions 1 and 5 are compulsory, and the other three must include at least one from each section.
Each question links to its worked model answer, so you can write an answer under time and check your structure straight after. Each paper opens with a download link and ends with a unit-wise split of its marks, which shows where the 2026 examiner put the weight.
PSIR Optional 2026 Paper I
Official paper: PSIR Optional 2026 Paper I (UPSC PDF). Time allowed three hours, maximum marks 250.
Thinkers carried Section A. Indian and Western political thought took 80 marks between them, through Ambedkar, Gandhi, Kautilya, Machiavelli and Mill, and Wollstonecraft and Marcuse added 25 more through the ideologies unit. Section B spread its 200 marks across eight units, led by the Constitution and the working of its organs at 40 (secularism before the Preamble, checks on the executive, two decades of Parliament), with federalism and party and electoral politics at 35 each.
Section A
| Q. | Question | Marks | Unit | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1(a) | Resurgence of political theory | 10 | Political Theory and the State | Model answer |
| 1(b) | Post-colonial theory of State | 10 | Political Theory and the State | Model answer |
| 1(c) | The freedom of the pike is death to the minnows. | 10 | Justice, Equality, Rights and Freedom | Model answer |
| 1(d) | Legitimacy is always a ‘social construct’. | 10 | Democracy, Power and Legitimacy | Model answer |
| 1(e) | Herbert Marcuse turned Freudianism on its head in his critical theory. | 10 | Political Ideologies | Model answer |
| 2(a) | “Rights of the man are separate and independent of the State.” Critically analyze the perspective of Laski. | 20 | Justice, Equality, Rights and Freedom | Model answer |
| 2(b) | “Fortune favours the brave.” In the light of this statement, discuss Machiavelli’s concepts of ‘virtue’ and ‘fortune’. | 15 | Western Political Thought | Model answer |
| 2(c) | Discuss B. R. Ambedkar’s views on democracy and State socialism. | 15 | Indian Political Thought | Model answer |
| 3(a) | Mill’s work was crucial to the development of liberalism, because it straddled the divide between classical and modern theories. Analyze. | 20 | Western Political Thought | Model answer |
| 3(b) | Wollstonecraft developed first systematic feminist critique. Discuss her main ideas. | 15 | Political Ideologies | Model answer |
| 3(c) | Discuss Gandhi’s approach to property in relation to trusteeship. | 15 | Indian Political Thought | Model answer |
| 4(a) | “Representative democracy is not an absolute principle, rather a question of time, place and circumstances.” Analyze the statement. Mention the major challenges to representative democracy. | 20 | Democracy, Power and Legitimacy | Model answer |
| 4(b) | What is capability approach? Elaborate the distinctive features of the capability theory of equality. | 15 | Justice, Equality, Rights and Freedom | Model answer |
| 4(c) | Analyze Kautilya’s Saptanga theory. How do you explain its significance in present-day politics? | 15 | Indian Political Thought | Model answer |
Section B
| Q. | Question | Marks | Unit | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5(a) | How did Swadeshi grow into a demand for Swaraj? | 10 | Indian Nationalism | Model answer |
| 5(b) | The Constitution of India was secular even before the word was included in the Preamble. Comment. | 10 | Constitution and Organs of Government | Model answer |
| 5(c) | Identity has become an important phenomenon in the modern politics in India. Discuss. | 10 | Caste, Religion and Ethnicity | Model answer |
| 5(d) | Ending proxy leadership in Panchayati Raj is a necessary step towards true grassroots democracy. Comment. | 10 | Grassroots Democracy | Model answer |
| 5(e) | Discuss the impact of liberalization on agriculture sector in India. | 10 | Planning and Economic Development | Model answer |
| 6(a) | From passive resistors to armed revolutionaries, the Indian Freedom Struggle has a strong imprint of women freedom fighters. Elucidate. | 20 | Indian Nationalism | Model answer |
| 6(b) | When there are multiple stakeholders of power, conversation and consensus become the natural ingredients of governance. Analyze with respect to coalition politics. | 15 | Party System and Electoral Politics | Model answer |
| 6(c) | Evaluate the Centre-State relation with reference to Article 293 and analyze its implications for the Indian federal structure. | 15 | Federalism | Model answer |
| 7(a) | Elucidate the prominent trends in voting behaviour in contemporary India, and discuss how astroturfing affects the scenario. | 20 | Party System and Electoral Politics | Model answer |
| 7(b) | Highlight any five constitutional provisions that restrain the powers of the executive, and evaluate their effectiveness in current times. | 15 | Constitution and Organs of Government | Model answer |
| 7(c) | Map the different types of ethnic conflicts that have emerged in 21st century India. | 15 | Caste, Religion and Ethnicity | Model answer |
| 8(a) | Discuss the causes and consequences of inter-State water disputes in India. | 20 | Federalism | Model answer |
| 8(b) | Critically comment on the shifts in the functioning of the Indian Parliament in the last two decades. | 15 | Constitution and Organs of Government | Model answer |
| 8(c) | “The lack of political will in preventing environmental degradation is one of the major challenges that India is experiencing.” Comment. | 15 | Social Movements | Model answer |
2026 Paper I: where the marks sat
| Unit | Marks | Share of paper |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Political Thought | 45 | 11.2% |
| Justice, Equality, Rights and Freedom | 45 | 11.2% |
| Constitution and Organs of Government | 40 | 10.0% |
| Federalism | 35 | 8.8% |
| Party System and Electoral Politics | 35 | 8.8% |
| Western Political Thought | 35 | 8.8% |
| Democracy, Power and Legitimacy | 30 | 7.5% |
| Indian Nationalism | 30 | 7.5% |
| Caste, Religion and Ethnicity | 25 | 6.2% |
| Political Ideologies | 25 | 6.2% |
| Political Theory and the State | 20 | 5.0% |
| Social Movements | 15 | 3.8% |
| Grassroots Democracy | 10 | 2.5% |
| Planning and Economic Development | 10 | 2.5% |
PSIR Optional 2026 Paper II
Official paper: PSIR Optional 2026 Paper II (UPSC PDF). Time allowed three hours, maximum marks 250.
India and South Asia took 90 of Section B’s 200 marks: six parts on Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions, the Land Boundary Agreement, China in the region, the Maldives, illegal cross-border migration and Kachchatheevu. Section A leaned on the international order, with NATO under pressure from its biggest member and power transition in US-China relations together worth 35 marks. CMEA and UNCLOS came as straight 15-mark syllabus questions.
Section A
| Q. | Question | Marks | Unit | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1(a) | Criticism of the institutional approach in comparative political analysis has come up in successive waves. Comment. | 10 | Comparative Politics and Its Approaches | Model answer |
| 1(b) | Extractive capitalism | 10 | Comparative Politics and Its Approaches | Model answer |
| 1(c) | Discuss various methods of Balance of Power. | 10 | Key Concepts in International Relations | Model answer |
| 1(d) | Clientilism | 10 | Politics of Representation and Participation | Model answer |
| 1(e) | What role does identity and technology play in the conceptualisation of Defensive realism ? | 10 | Approaches to International Relations | Model answer |
| 2(a) | Discuss the factors responsible for the changing nature of states in contemporary industrial societies and explain its impact. | 20 | State in Comparative Perspective | Model answer |
| 2(b) | International Human Rights frameworks are hostage to politics among nations. Comment. | 15 | United Nations and Global Concerns | Model answer |
| 2(c) | Diplomacy has always rested on two pillars : Institutional memory and individual craft. Elaborate. | 15 | Key Concepts in International Relations | Model answer |
| 3(a) | NATO, the oldest surviving collective security system, is facing challenge of transactional coercion from its own biggest member. What future does NATO have amidst such developments ? | 20 | Changing International Political Order | Model answer |
| 3(b) | Theories of international relations which claim objectivity inevitably harbour subjective biases. Elucidate. | 15 | Approaches to International Relations | Model answer |
| 3(c) | Does power transition theory reflect the dynamics of US-China relations ? | 15 | Changing International Political Order | Model answer |
| 4(a) | QUAD requires more robust architecture than the summit driven mode to tide over the current challenges. Elaborate. | 20 | Regionalization of World Politics | Model answer |
| 4(b) | How did the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) reflect geo-political division of the world during the cold war ? | 15 | Evolution of the International Economic System | Model answer |
| 4(c) | What is UNCLOS ? Explain its salient features. | 15 | United Nations and Global Concerns | Model answer |
Section B
| Q. | Question | Marks | Unit | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5(a) | Describe India’s objections to agricultural negotiations at the World Trade Organisation. | 10 | India and the Global South | Model answer |
| 5(b) | What strategic options can India exercise as a response to the tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan ? | 10 | India and South Asia | Model answer |
| 5(c) | Discuss the three areas of security co-operation between India and Israel. | 10 | Recent Developments in Indian Foreign Policy | Model answer |
| 5(d) | Discuss the main features of the land-boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh. | 10 | India and South Asia | Model answer |
| 5(e) | Analyse the relevance of India-Brazil economic co-operation in strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries. | 10 | India and the Global South | Model answer |
| 6(a) | Accelerating of Chinese influence across South Asia is fundamentally reshaping the region’s geopolitical landscape. This is a big foreign policy challenge for India. Analyse. | 20 | India and South Asia | Model answer |
| 6(b) | Critically evaluate the important factors of India-Maldives relations on the eve of sixty years of diplomatic ties between the two countries. | 15 | India and South Asia | Model answer |
| 6(c) | “The mother of all deals” is a transformative milestone in Indo-EU trade relations. Elaborate on the new Security and Defence partnership. | 15 | India and the Major Powers | Model answer |
| 7(a) | How does illegal cross border migration pose challenges to India’s security ? Discuss the steps taken by the government in this direction and their effectiveness. | 20 | India and South Asia | Model answer |
| 7(b) | The island of Kachchatheevu remains an intractable issue in India-Srilanka relations. Comment. | 15 | India and South Asia | Model answer |
| 7(c) | India has adopted multi-alignment to fulfill its core values and interests in International relations. Discuss. | 15 | Indian Foreign Policy | Model answer |
| 8(a) | Critically evaluate India-Russia relations in the 21st century. How have both the countries responded to America meddling in their relations in the recent times. | 20 | India and the Major Powers | Model answer |
| 8(b) | India has recognised that West Asia is not a single contest, but a tangle of rivalries, bargains and anxieties. Comment. | 15 | Recent Developments in Indian Foreign Policy | Model answer |
| 8(c) | Examine India and South-Africa co-operation through bilateral and multi-lateral forums. | 15 | India and the Global South | Model answer |
2026 Paper II: where the marks sat
| Unit | Marks | Share of paper |
|---|---|---|
| India and South Asia | 90 | 22.5% |
| Changing International Political Order | 35 | 8.8% |
| India and the Global South | 35 | 8.8% |
| India and the Major Powers | 35 | 8.8% |
| United Nations and Global Concerns | 30 | 7.5% |
| Approaches to International Relations | 25 | 6.2% |
| Key Concepts in International Relations | 25 | 6.2% |
| Recent Developments in Indian Foreign Policy | 25 | 6.2% |
| Comparative Politics and Its Approaches | 20 | 5.0% |
| Regionalization of World Politics | 20 | 5.0% |
| State in Comparative Perspective | 20 | 5.0% |
| Evolution of the International Economic System | 15 | 3.8% |
| Indian Foreign Policy | 15 | 3.8% |
| Politics of Representation and Participation | 10 | 2.5% |
How the 2026 papers read against recent years
Our <a href=”/psir-optional-pyq-analysis-paper-1/”>PSIR Paper I PYQ analysis</a> treats justice, and Rawls in particular, as the most regular theme in Section A. 2026 didn’t ask Rawls directly. The justice-side marks went to Laski on rights (2a), the capability theory of equality (4b) and the freedom of the pike (1c), 45 marks in all, so an aspirant who had prepared only the Rawls, Nozick and Sen triangle would have had to stretch. Federalism, which the same analysis calls the backbone of Section B, held its place through Article 293 and inter-State water disputes.
The <a href=”/psir-optional-pyq-analysis-paper-2/”>PSIR Paper II PYQ analysis</a> names China as the theme that returns every year. It returned in 2026 too, but not as a bilateral India-China question: 6(a) asks about Chinese influence across South Asia and 3(c) tests power transition theory on US-China relations. Realism appeared only as a 10-mark part on defensive realism (1e). The larger shift was the neighborhood’s share of Section B, while NATO, the QUAD and the India-EU deal show Paper II following the news closely.
For earlier questions arranged by topic, the <a href=”/psir-pyqs/”>PSIR previous year questions</a> page covers both papers.
In Paper I the Constitution and organs of government took the most marks across the four years, 240, with 65, 75 and 60 from 2023 to 2025, but 2026’s 40 was its lowest. Federalism is the most erratic Section B unit: nothing in 2024, then 45 in 2025 and 35 in 2026. Party system and electoral politics sat at 15 marks for three straight years before rising to 35 in 2026. In Section A, political theory and the State fell from 50 in 2025 to 20 in 2026, while Indian political thought went from 15 to 45 and justice, equality, rights and freedom from 25 to 45 over the same year.
In Paper II the biggest shift is between India’s own foreign policy and its neighborhood. Indian foreign policy took 70, 50 and 75 marks from 2023 to 2025 and only 15 in 2026, while India and South Asia went from 20 in 2023 to 55, 25 and then 90. Over four years they’re still the two largest units, at 210 and 190. India and the major powers held between 30 and 45 marks every year. In Section A, regionalization rose from 15 to 30 to 50 before dropping to 20 in 2026, key concepts in IR went unasked in 2023 and 2024 and then took 40 and 25, and the changing international political order skipped 2025 after 35 marks in each of the other three years.
Paper I: marks by unit, 2023 to 2026
| Unit | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Theory and the State | 50 | 40 | 50 | 20 |
| Justice, Equality, Rights and Freedom | 40 | 35 | 25 | 45 |
| Democracy, Power and Legitimacy | 30 | 45 | 35 | 30 |
| Political Ideologies | 20 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Indian Political Thought | 35 | 30 | 15 | 45 |
| Western Political Thought | 25 | 25 | 50 | 35 |
| Indian Nationalism | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 |
| Constitution and Organs of Government | 65 | 75 | 60 | 40 |
| Grassroots Democracy | 30 | 15 | 20 | 10 |
| Federalism | 20 | 0 | 45 | 35 |
| Planning and Economic Development | 15 | 30 | 25 | 10 |
| Caste, Religion and Ethnicity | 20 | 15 | 15 | 25 |
| Party System and Electoral Politics | 15 | 15 | 15 | 35 |
| Social Movements | 25 | 30 | 0 | 15 |
Paper II: marks by unit, 2023 to 2026
| Unit | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comparative Politics and Its Approaches | 20 | 10 | 20 | 20 |
| State in Comparative Perspective | 0 | 15 | 0 | 20 |
| Politics of Representation and Participation | 10 | 35 | 30 | 10 |
| Approaches to International Relations | 30 | 40 | 10 | 25 |
| Key Concepts in International Relations | 0 | 0 | 40 | 25 |
| Changing International Political Order | 35 | 35 | 0 | 35 |
| Evolution of the International Economic System | 20 | 35 | 30 | 15 |
| United Nations and Global Concerns | 65 | 10 | 35 | 30 |
| Regionalization of World Politics | 15 | 30 | 50 | 20 |
| Indian Foreign Policy | 70 | 50 | 75 | 15 |
| India and South Asia | 20 | 55 | 25 | 90 |
| India and the Global South | 35 | 25 | 15 | 35 |
| India and the Major Powers | 35 | 30 | 45 | 35 |
| Recent Developments in Indian Foreign Policy | 45 | 30 | 25 | 25 |
Every question in both tables links to a worked answer, and the full sets are collected under <a href=”/mains-practice-questions/psir-optional-paper-1/”>PSIR Paper I model answers</a> and <a href=”/mains-practice-questions/psir-optional-paper-2/”>PSIR Paper II model answers</a>. Each one opens with an outline and the key points before the full answer.
For the syllabus behind the unit names, see the <a href=”/psir-optional-syllabus/”>PSIR optional syllabus</a>, and for topic-wise preparation the <a href=”/political-science-optional-notes/”>Political Science optional notes</a>.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was asked in the UPSC PSIR optional paper 2026?
Paper I covered thinkers from Kautilya, Machiavelli and Mill to Ambedkar, Gandhi, Wollstonecraft and Marcuse, plus rights, equality, democracy and legitimacy, and in Section B federalism, Parliament, coalition politics, voting behavior and ethnic conflict. Paper II covered IR theory, NATO, the QUAD, CMEA and UNCLOS in Section A, and in Section B leaned heavily on South Asia, with India-Russia, India-EU, West Asia and the Global South also asked.
How many questions and marks are there in each PSIR optional paper?
Each paper prints 8 questions in two sections, each worth 50 marks, and you answer 5 for 250 marks in three hours. Questions 1 and 5 are compulsory sets of five 10-mark parts, and the other questions split into parts of 20, 15 and 15 marks, with at least one chosen from each section.
Where can I download the official 2026 PSIR optional question papers?
UPSC publishes the official Mains question papers as PDFs on the previous question papers page at upsc.gov.in, and both 2026 PSIR papers are there. Each paper on this page also opens with its own download link.
How should I use the 2026 PSIR paper in my preparation?
Write a question first under a timer, then open its model answer and compare the structure before the facts. Once you’ve done a few, use the unit split to see which parts of your notes the 2026 paper tested and which it skipped.
How does the 2026 PSIR paper compare with recent years?
Against our PYQ analysis, 2026 dropped the direct Rawls question and kept federalism and China, the latter through South Asia and US-China power transition rather than a bilateral question. South Asia’s 90 marks in Paper II Section B were the clearest tilt of the year.
Where can I find model answers to the 2026 PSIR questions?
Each question on this page links to its own model answer, and the full sets are on the PSIR Paper I and PSIR Paper II model answer pages under Mains practice questions. Each answer opens with an outline and key points before the full text.