Welcome to our blog on political science! Today, we will be focusing on the B.A Political Science program at Delhi University. We will be discussing the various notes and solutions available for students enrolled in this program. We understand that studying political science can be challenging, which is why we want to provide you with all the resources you need to succeed. So whether you are just starting out in this field or you are a seasoned pro, we hope you find our blog helpful.
As you may know, Delhi University is one of the premier institutions for higher education in India. The B.A Political Science program at Delhi University is highly regarded and attracts students from all over the country. The program covers a wide range of topics, including political theory, comparative politics, international relations, and more.
Now, let’s dive into the notes and solutions available for students enrolled in this program. Whether you are looking for notes on a specific topic or you need help with a particular assignment, we have you covered. We have compiled a list of the most useful notes and solutions for the B.A Political Science program at Delhi University, so you can easily find what you need.
Paper I: Understanding Political Theory
- Unit 1: What is Politics: Theorizing the ‘Political’
- Unit 2: Approaches to Political Theory: Normative, Historical, and Empirical
- Unit 3: Traditions of Political Theory: Liberal, Marxist, Anarchist, and Conservative
- Unit 4: Critical Perspectives in Political Theory: Feminist and Postmodern
- Unit 5: The Idea of Political Community: Political Obligation
Paper II: Constitutional Government and Democracy in India
Unit 1: The Constituent Assembly and the Constitution
- Philosophy of the Constitution, the Preamble, and features of the Constitution.
- Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles, and debates on Citizenship
Unit 2: Organs of Government
- The Legislature: Power and Functions of Parliament, Debates on Representation in Parliament.
- The Executive: Election, Power, Functions, and the changing role of President and Prime Minister.
- The Judiciary: Appointment of Judges in High Courts and the Supreme Court, Power and Functions of High Courts and the Supreme Court.
Unit 3: Federalism and Decentralization
- Centre-State Relations, Asymmetrical features of Federalism
- The Panchayats and Municipalities
Unit 4: Constitutional Provisions and National Security Laws
- Emergency Provisions
- Preventive Detention and National Security Laws
Paper III: Political Theory – Concepts and Debates
Unit 1: Freedom (3 weeks)
- Liberty: Negative and Positive
- Freedom, Emancipation, Swaraj Debate: Free speech, expression, and dissent
Unit 2: Equality (2 weeks)
- Equality of opportunity and Equality of Outcome
- Egalitarianism: Background inequalities and differential treatment Debate: Affirmative action
Unit 3: Justice (2 weeks)
- Justice: Procedural and Substantive
- Rawls and his critics Debate: Scope of Justice – National vs Global
Unit 4: Rights (2 weeks)
- Rights: Natural, Moral, and Legal
- Rights and Obligations Debate: Human Rights – Universalism or Cultural Relativism
Unit 5: Democracy (3 weeks)
- Democracy: Idea and Practice
- Liberal Democracy and its critics
- Multiculturalism and Toleration Debate: Representation vs participation
Paper IV: Political Process in India
- Unit 1: Political Parties and the Party System National Parties and State Parties; Trends in the Party System: From the Congress System to Multi-Party Coalitions
- Unit 2: Elections and Electoral Processes Electoral Process, Representation, and social determinants of voting behaviour; Election Commission and Electoral Reforms
- Unit 3: Religion and Politics Debates on Secularism and Communalism
- Unit 4: Caste and Politics Caste in Politics and the Politicization of Caste; Intersectionality of Caste, Class, and Gender, reservation and affirmative action policies
- Unit 5: Tribes and Politics Policies and Challenges: Fifth and Sixth Schedules; Forest Rights Act; Development and Issues of Displacement
- Unit 6: The Changing Nature of the Indian State Developmental, Welfare, and Coercive Dimensions
Paper V – Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics
Unit 1: Understanding Comparative Politics (2 weeks lecture)
- Nature and scope
- Why Compare and Methods of Comparison
- Going beyond Eurocentrism
Unit 2: Approaches to Studying Comparative Politics (2 weeks lecture)
- Institutional Approach, System Approach, Structural Functional Approach
- Political Culture
- New Institutionalism
Unit 3: Historical context of modern government (16 lectures)
- Capitalism: meaning and development: globalization
- Socialism: meaning, growth and development
- Colonialism and decolonization: meaning, context, forms of colonialism; anticolonialism
- Struggles and process of decolonization
Unit 4: Themes for comparative analysis (18 lectures)
A comparative study of constitutional developments and political economy in the following countries:
- Britain
- Brazil
- Nigeria
- China
Paper VI: Perspectives on Public Administration |
Unit 1: Public Administration as a Discipline [15 lectures]
- Meaning, Dimensions and Significance of the Discipline
- Public and Private Administration
- Evolution of Public Administration
Unit 2: Theoretical Perspectives [25 lectures]
- Classical Theories
- Scientific Management (F.W. Taylor)
- Administrative Management (Gullick, Urwick and Fayol)
- Ideal-Type Bureaucracy (Max Weber)
- Neo-Classical Theories
- Human Relations Theory (Elton Mayo)
- Rational Decision-Making (Herbert Simon)
- Contemporary Theories
- Ecological Approach (Fred Riggs)
- Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Peter Drucker)
Unit 3: Public Policy [10 lectures]
- Concept, relevance and approaches
- Formulation, implementation and evaluation
Unit 4: Major Approaches in Public Administration [20 lectures]
- Development Administration
- New Public Administration
- New Public Management
- New Public Service Approach
- Good Governance
- Feminist Perspectives
Paper VII- Perspectives on International Relations and World History
Unit 1: Studying International Relations (15 Lectures)
a. How do you understand International Relations: Levels of Analysis (3 lectures)
b. History of IR: Emergence of the International State System (2 Lectures)
c. Pre-Westphalia and Westphalia (5 lectures)
d. Post-Westphalia (5 lectures)
Unit 2: Theoretical Perspectives (25 Lectures)
a. Classical Realism & Neo-Realism (6 lectures)
b. Liberalism & Neoliberalism (5 lectures)
c. Marxist Approaches (5 lectures)
d. Feminist Perspectives (4 lectures)
e. Eurocentricism and Perspectives from the Global South (5 Lectures)
Unit 3: An Overview of Twentieth Century IR History (20 Lectures)
a. World War I: Causes and Consequences (1 Lecture)
b. Significance of the Bolshevik Revolution (1 Lecture)
c. Rise of Fascism / Nazism (2 Lectures)
d. World War II: Causes and Consequences (3 Lectures)
e. Cold War: Different Phases (4 Lectures)
f. Emergence of the Third World (3 Lectures)
g. Collapse of the USSR and the End of the Cold War (2 Lectures)
h. Post-Cold War Developments and Emergence of Other Power Centers of Power (4 Lectures)
Paper VIII – Political Processes and Institutions in Comparative Perspective
Unit 1: Forms of Government: (8 lectures)
a) Unitary and Federal System
b) Regime Types: Democratic, Authoritarian, Populism and Totalitarian
Unit 2: Electoral Systems (8 lectures):
Definition and procedures, Types of election system (First Past the Post, Proportional
Representation, Mixed Representation)
Unit 3: Parties and Party Systems (8 lectures)
Historical contexts of the emergence of the party system and types of parties
Unit 4: Nation-state (8 lectures)
What is nation–state? Historical evolution in Western Europe and postcolonial contexts ‘Nation’ and ‘State’: debates
Unit 5: Gendering Comparative Politics: Institutions and Processes (8 lectures)
a. Political Representation
b. Women in Conflict and Peace
Paper IX – Public Policy and Administration in India
Unit 1: Public Policy [10 lectures]
a. Definition, characteristics and models
b. Public Policy Process in India
Unit 2: Decentralization [10 lectures]
a. Meaning, significance and approaches and types
b. Local Self Governance: Rural and Urban
Unit 3: Budget [12 lectures]
a. Concept and Significance of Budget
b. Budget Cycle in India
c. Various Approaches and Types of Budgeting
Unit 4: Citizen and Administration Interface [15 lectures]
a. Public Service Delivery
b. Redressal of Public Grievances: RTI, Lokpal, Citizens’ Charter and E-Governance
Unit 5: Social Welfare Administration [20 lectures]
a. Concept and Approaches of Social Welfare
b. Social Welfare Policies:
i. Education: Right to Education,
ii. Health: National Health Mission,
iii. Food: Right to Food Security
iv. Employment: MNREGA
Paper X – Global Politics
Unit 1: Globalization: Conceptions and Perspectives (23 lectures)
a. Understanding Globalization and its Alternative Perspectives (6 lectures)
b. Political Debates on Sovereignty and Territoriality (3 lectures)
c. Global Economy: Its Significance and Anchors of Global Political Economy:
IMF, World Bank, WTO, TNCs (8 lectures)
d. Cultural and Technological Dimension (3 lectures)
e. Global Resistances (Global Social Movements and NGOs) (3 lectures)
Unit 2: Contemporary Global Issues (20 lectures)
a. Ecological Issues: Historical Overview of International Environmental
Agreements, Climate Change, Global Commons Debate (7 lectures)
b. Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (3 lectures)
c. International Terrorism: Non-State Actors and State Terrorism; Post 9/11
developments (4 lectures)
d. Migration (3 lectures)
e. Human Security (3 lectures)
Unit 3: Globalization: Power and Resource Governance
Paper XI – Classical Political Philosophy
Unit 1: Text and Interpretation (1 week)
Unit 2: Antiquity
Plato (2 weeks)
Philosophy and Politics, Virtues, Justice, Philosopher King/Queen, Communism, Plato on Democracy, Women and Guardianship, Philosophic Education and Good
Aristotle (2 weeks)
Forms, Virtue, man as zoon politikon, Citizenship, Justice, State and Household,
Classification of governments
Unit 3: Interlude:
Machiavelli (2 weeks)
Vice and Virtue, Analyzing Power through Prince, Religion and morality,
Republicanism, statecraft
Unit 4: Possessive Individualism
Hobbes (2 weeks)
Human nature, State of Nature, Social Contract and role of consent, State and sovereignty
Locke (2 weeks)
Laws of Nature, Natural Rights, Justification of Property, Right to Dissent
Paper XII – Indian Political Thought – I
Unit 1: Traditions of Pre-colonial Indian Political Thought (10 lectures)
a) Epistemic Foundations of Indian Political Thought
b) Brahmanic, Shramanic, Islamic and Syncretic.
Unit 2: Manu: Social Laws (6 lectures)
Unit 3: Kautilya: Theory of State (6 lectures)
Unit 4: Ved Vyasa (Shantiparva): Rajadharma (5 lectures)
Unit 5: Aggannasutta (Digha Nikaya): Theory of kingship (5 lectures)
Unit 6
Barani: Ideal Polity (6 lectures)
Unit 7
Abul Fazal: Monarchy (5 lectures)
Unit 8
Kabir: Syncretism (5 lectures)
Paper XIII – Modern Political Philosophy (6.1)
Unit 1: Modernity and its discourses (1 week)
Kant on Modernity, Faith on Reason, Understanding Nature’s nature.
Unit 2: Romantics (2 weeks)
a. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1 week)
Critique of Modernity; State of Nature (evolution of Nobel savage, what corrupts the
society?), Origin of inequality, General Will; direct democracy; self-government;
b. Mary Wollstonecraft (1 week)
Women and paternalism; critique of Rousseau’s idea of education and proposed
educational reforms; legal rights and representation
Unit 3: Liberal socialist (2 weeks)
John Stuart Mill
Mill’s hedonistic principle of utility; difference with other utilitarian, Liberty, suffrage and change in democracy; rights of minorities; subjection of women
Unit 4: Radicals (2 Weeks)
a. Hegel
Ethical life: family, civil society and state
b. Karl Marx
Difference with other kinds of materialism; Concepts of values; critique of Capitalism;
inevitability of class struggle; establishment of utopian society
Paper XIV – Indian Political Thought – II
Unit 1:
Introduction to Modern Indian Political Thought (4 lectures)
Unit 2:
Rammohan Roy: Rights (4 lectures)
Unit 3:
Pandita Ramabai: Gender (4 lectures)
Unit 4:
Vivekananda: Ideal Society (5 lectures)
Unit 5:
Gandhi: Swaraj (5 lectures)
Unit 6:
Ambedkar: Social Justice (5 lectures)
Unit 7:
Tagore: Critique of Nationalism (4 lectures)
Unit 8:
Iqbal: Community (5 lectures)
Unit 9:
Savarkar: Hindutva (4 lectures)
Unit 10:
Nehru: Secularism (4 lectures)
Unit 11:
Lohia: Socialism (4 lectures)
We hope this blog will be a valuable resource for you as you navigate the B.A Political Science program at Delhi University. Good luck with your studies, and we hope you find success in your chosen field!
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