UPSC CSE · Mains optional · Two papers, 500 marks
PSIR Optional Syllabus
The official UPSC syllabus for Political Science & International Relations, set out section by section exactly as the Commission words it — followed by an honest read on who the paper suits and how to work through it.
marks · 250 per paper
sections · two per paper
per paper, at the Mains stage
How the two papers are built
Paper I is political theory, the thinkers and Indian government. Paper II is comparative politics, international relations and India's place in the world. Each section carries 125 marks.
Paper I · 250 marks
Political Theory & Indian Politics
- Section A — Political Theory, Indian Political Thought & Western Political Thought
- Section B — Indian Government & Politics
Paper II · 250 marks
Comparative Politics, IR & India in the World
- Section A — Comparative Politics & International Politics
- Section B — India and the World
Paper I · Section A
Political Theory & the Thinkers
Political Theory
- Meaning and approaches
- Theories of the state — Liberal, Neoliberal, Marxist, Pluralist, Post-colonial, Feminist
- Justice — with reference to Rawls’s theory and communitarian critiques
- Equality · Freedom · Rights · Democracy
- Power, authority, and legitimacy
- Political ideologies — Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism, Feminism
- Indian Political Thought — Dharmashastra, Arthashastra, Buddhist traditions; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M.K. Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, M.N. Roy, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan
Western Political Thought
- Plato — theory of Forms, justice as each part doing its own work, the philosopher-king
- Aristotle — the polis by nature, the six-fold classification of constitutions, polity and the middle class
- Machiavelli — the autonomy of politics, virtù and fortuna, the republican Discourses
- Hobbes — the state of nature as a state of war, covenant, absolute and undivided sovereignty
- Locke — natural rights, government as trust, property, the right of revolution
- John Stuart Mill — the harm principle, liberty of thought and discussion, the tyranny of the majority
- Marx — historical materialism, alienation, surplus value, class struggle
- Gramsci — hegemony, civil society, war of position, organic intellectuals
- Hannah Arendt — labour, work and action; power against violence; totalitarianism
Paper I · Section B
Indian Government & Politics
- Indian Nationalism — strategies of the freedom struggle (constitutionalism → mass Satyagraha → non-cooperation → civil disobedience); revolutionary movements
- Perspectives on the Indian National Movement — Liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Radical Humanist, Dalit
- Making of the Indian Constitution — legacies of British rule; social and political perspectives
- Salient features of the Constitution — Preamble, Fundamental Rights, DPSPs, parliamentary system, federalism, secularism, basic structure doctrine
- Principal organs of the Union — Executive, Legislature, Supreme Court
- Principal organs of the State — Executive, Legislature, High Courts
- Grassroots democracy — Panchayati Raj, 73rd & 74th Amendments, decentralisation
- Statutory institutions — ECI, UPSC, CAG, Finance Commission, NCSC, NCST, NCW
- Federalism — Centre-State relations, devolution, metropolitan governance
- Planning & Economic Development — Nehruvian and Gandhian perspectives, Green Revolution, land reforms, liberalisation
- Caste, religion, and ethnicity in Indian politics
- Party system — national and regional parties, coalition politics
- Social movements — civil liberties, human rights, environmental, women’s, backward classes
- Regionalism · Secessionist and insurgent movements · Communalism
- State politics — J&K, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, the North-East
- Electoral politics — ECI, electoral reforms, voting behaviour
Paper II · Section A
Comparative Politics & International Politics
- Comparative Politics — nature, approaches; political economy and political sociology; limitations of the comparative method
- State in comparative perspective — capitalist, socialist, Third World; the state in globalisation
- Politics of representation and participation — parties, pressure groups, social movements
- Globalisation — responses from developed and developing societies
- Approaches to IR — Idealist, Realist, Marxist, Functionalist, Systems theory
- Key concepts — national interest, security, power, balance of power, deterrence, transnational actors, collective security
- Changing international order — superpowers, bipolarity, Cold War, NAM, Soviet collapse, unipolarity, US hegemony
- International economic system — Bretton Woods → WTO; CMEA; NIEO; globalisation of the world economy
- United Nations — aims, structure, working, reforms, peacekeeping
- Regionalisation — EU, ASEAN, APEC, NAFTA, SAARC, BRICS
- Contemporary global concerns — democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation
Paper II · Section B
India and the World
India in the international order
- Indian foreign policy — determinants, principles, evolution; continuity and change
- India and NAM — relevance in the contemporary world
- India and the UN — peacekeeping role; UNSC permanent seat demand
- Nuclear policy — perceptions and shifts
- India in the global economy — dirigisme to liberalisation; role in WTO
- Regional cooperation — SAARC, BIMSTEC
- India’s relations with major powers — US, Russia, China, Japan, EU
- India’s relations with neighbours — Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Maldives
- Look East / Act East policy
- Engagement with West Asia and Africa
- Diaspora policy
South Asia & the contemporary world order
- Comparative politics of South Asia — region as a geopolitical and geo-economic entity
- The South Asian experience of democratisation and modernisation
- Regional cooperation, SAARC; South Asia in the global political economy
- India’s role in South Asia and regional security
- International political economy and globalisation
- Emerging issues — climate change, migration, health, pandemics
- Changing balance of power and contemporary world order
Where PSIR pays, and where it costs
Pick it for genuine interest in political theory and international relations, not because the syllabus looks short. The paper rewards analytical writing over factual recall, and that suits some aspirants far better than others.
What works for you
- A clean two-paper, four-part structure with no statistical tools.
- Strong overlap with GS-2 polity and international relations, which cuts total preparation time.
- A high ceiling — 310–340 reported by recent toppers in good years.
- Plenty of standard reading: Heywood, OP Gauba, Rajeev Bhargava, Bajpai.
What works against you
- Wide score variance — the average band sits at 240–270.
- It rewards essay-style argumentation, not bullet-style factual recall.
- The Paper II IR section moves with current affairs; ignoring the news is fatal.
- Thinker-heavy theory sections need genuine reading, not memorisation.
How to work through it
1
Build the theory base
Start with Heywood's Political Theory and OP Gauba. Read each thinker once for the argument, then write a one-page summary from memory before moving on.
2
Map Indian politics topic-wise
Use Subhash Kashyap and Bipan Chandra. Keep standalone notes on federalism, Centre-State relations and grassroots democracy — they recur every year.
3
Pair Paper II with current affairs
Bajpai's India in a Multipolar World plus IDSA briefs. Keep a rolling tracker of bilateral developments, because Paper II questions are usually framed “in light of recent developments”.
4
Practise answer writing weekly
Two 15-mark answers and one 20-mark answer a week, hand-written and evaluated. PSIR scores turn on how you structure an argument, not on how much you write.
5
Revise PYQs in cycles
Cover the last ten years of previous questions at least twice. UPSC repeats themes, and the PSIR PYQ set makes the repetition obvious.
Anantam IAS · PSIR live batch
Read the syllabus. Then go and be taught it.
Live PSIR classes Monday to Friday, from Old Rajinder Nagar or on Zoom, taught by Rahul Puri Sir. Sit in on a demo before you decide.