Political Science
Subject code 323 · domain paper
Each of those rules names Political Science outright — no combination of the other papers reaches them. That is the whole case for spending one of five slots on it.
The paper at a glance
Political Science carries the subject code 323. The syllabus described here is the one published for 2026-27.
Both halves of the document are history-shaped: they follow events in sequence, from the first general elections to the 2019 elections in one course and from the end of the Cold War to the debates over globalisation in the other. There is no separate section on political theory or on the Constitution as a text.
How the syllabus is organised
The document is laid out in two courses — Politics in India Since Independence, with nine numbered topics, and Contemporary World Politics, with seven. Neither course uses the word Unit; each is a numbered list under the heading Course Content, and each numbered topic is a title followed by a sentence or two of detail.
The syllabus itself is a list of topics only. It does not print question counts, marks, negative marking or timing, and it does not say how many questions come from each course. Read it alongside the exam pattern.
Course 1: Politics in India Since Independence
Nine topics in roughly chronological order.
| Topic | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 1. Era of One-Party Dominance | First three general elections, nature of Congress dominance at the national level, uneven dominance at the state level, coalitional nature of Congress, major opposition parties |
| 2. Nation-Building and Its Problems | Nehru's approach to nation-building; legacy of partition — challenge of refugee resettlement, the Kashmir problem; organisation and reorganisation of states; political conflicts over language |
| 3. Politics of Planned Development | Five year plans, expansion of the state sector and the rise of new economic interests |
| 4. India's External Relation | Nehru's foreign policy; Sino-Indian war of 1962, Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971; India's nuclear programme and shifting alliances in world politics |
| 5. Challenge to and Restoration of Congress System | Political succession after Nehru; non-Congressism and the electoral upset of 1967; Congress split and reconstitution; Congress victory in the 1971 elections; politics of garibi hatao |
| 6. Crises of the Constitutional Order | Search for a committed bureaucracy and judiciary; Navnirman movement in Gujarat and the Bihar movement; Emergency — context, constitutional and extra-constitutional dimensions, resistance to Emergency; 1977 elections and the formation of the Janata Party; rise of civil liberties organisations |
| 7. Regional Aspiration and Conflicts | Rise of regional parties; Punjab crisis and the anti-Sikh riots of 1984; the Kashmir situation; challenges and responses in the North East |
| 8. Democratic Upsurge and Coalition Politics | Participatory upsurge in the 1990s; rise of the JD and the BJP; increasing role of regional parties and coalition politics; UF and NDA governments; elections 2004-2019 and the UPA government, with the addition of the NDA government |
| 9. Recent Issues and Challenges | Challenge of and responses to globalization — new economic policy and its opposition; rise of OBCs in North Indian politics; Dalit politics in the electoral and non-electoral arena; challenge of communalism — the Ayodhya issue |
Topic 8 is the one place the list reaches the present: it names the elections from 2004 to 2019 and both the UPA and NDA governments. Nothing later than 2019 is mentioned anywhere in the document.
Course 2: Contemporary World Politics
Seven topics. Every one of them ends by turning back to India: India's relations with Russia, with China, Japan and South Korea, with its neighbours, its position in the UN, and its stand in environmental and globalisation debates.
| Topic | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 1. Disintegration of the 'Second World' and the Collapse of Bipolarity | New entities in world politics — Russia, Balkan states and Central Asian states; introduction of democratic politics and capitalism in post-communist regimes; India's relations with Russia and other post-communist countries |
| 2. Alternative Centers of Economic and Political Power | Rise of China as an economic power in the post-Mao era; creation and expansion of the European Union; ASEAN; India's changing relations with China, Japan and South Korea |
| 3. South Asia in the Post Cold War Era | Democratisation and its reversals in Pakistan and Nepal; ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka; impact of economic globalization on the region; conflicts and efforts for peace in South Asia; India's relations with its neighbours |
| 4. International Organisations in a Unipolar World | Restructuring and the future of the UN; India's position in the restructured UN; rise of new international actors — new international economic organisations, NGOs; how democratic and accountable the new institutions of global governance are |
| 5. Security in Contemporary World | Traditional concerns of security and the politics of disarmament; non-traditional concerns of human security — global poverty, health and education; issues of human rights and migration |
| 6. Environment and Natural Resources in Global Politics | Environment movement and the evolution of global environmental norms; conflicts over traditional and common property resources; rights of indigenous people; India's stand in global environmental debates |
| 7. Globalisation and its Critics | Economic, cultural and political manifestations; debates on the nature and consequences of globalization; anti-globalisation movements; India as an arena of globalization and struggles against it |
What this syllabus does not tell you
The document is a topic list and nothing more. From it you cannot learn:
- how many questions come from each course, or the marks, negative marking and duration — those are on the exam pattern;
- the weightage of any topic, so treat all sixteen as examinable rather than ranking them;
- how far into the present a topic such as Recent Issues and Challenges is meant to reach; the document's latest named date is 2019;
- how difficult the questions will be, or whether they will test dates and names or arguments and concepts;
- which books to use; the syllabus names no textbook;
- how much weight a university gives this paper once you qualify — the programmes that accept it are listed below, but the marks or ranking rule each one applies sits in its own admission bulletin.
For anything about attempt rules or numbers of questions, go to the NTA information bulletin and the exam pattern rather than to this list.
Where this paper can take you
Programmes whose rule can use Political Science, from the 12 universities whose documents we have read. 3 of them cannot be reached any other way.
B Design (Fashion) [ 2+2 with international credit transfer option] · B Sc (IT) [2+2 with international credit transfer option] · B. Arch. · and 104 more
B.A. (Hons.) Political Science · B.A. (Programme) · B.A. (Hons.) Psychology · and 45 more
Bachelor of Arts (Global Studies) · Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) - Economics · Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) - English · and 11 more
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) · B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) · Five Year Integrated Programme in Management (BBA & MBA) · and 7 more
B.A. (Hons.) History · B.A. (Hons.) Media and Communication · B.A. (Hons.) Political Science
Bachelor of Arts (Hons) - Political Science · Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) (Honours/Honours with Research)
Five Year Integrated Post Graduate Programme in Political Science