All 8 questions from UPSC Civil Services Mains Political Science & IR 2026 Paper I (400 marks total). Every stem reproduced in full, with directive-word analysis, marks, word limits, and answer-approach pointers.
8Questions
400Total marks
2026Year
Paper IPaper
A
Q1
50M150wCompulsorydiscuss
Write on the following in about 150 words each :
(a) Resurgence of political theory (10 marks)
(b) Post-colonial theory of State (10 marks)
(c) The freedom of the pike is death to the minnows. (10 marks)
(d) Legitimacy is always a ‘social construct’. (10 marks)
(e) Herbert Marcuse turned Freudianism on its head in his critical theory. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित में से प्रत्येक पर लगभग 150 शब्दों में लिखिए :
(a) राजनीतिक सिद्धांत का पुनरुत्थान (10 अंक)
(b) राज्य का उत्तर-औपनिवेशिक सिद्धांत (10 अंक)
(c) पाइक मछली की स्वतन्त्रता छोटी मछलियों की मृत्यु के समान है। (10 अंक)
(d) वैधता हमेशा एक ‘सामाजिक रचना’ होती है। (10 अंक)
(e) हर्बर्ट मार्कूज़ ने अपने आलोचनात्मक सिद्धांत में फ्रायडवाद को पूरी तरह उलट दिया। (10 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) A 150-word note on the revival of normative political theory after the mid-twentieth-century 'decline' thesis. The answer must first state what was said to have declined and why, and then account for the resurgence with named texts and thinkers; a narrative of the behavioural revolution alone will not do. (b) A 150-word note on the post-colonial theory of the State: why the state in ex-colonial societies is theorised differently from the classical liberal or the classical Marxist state. The answer must carry Alavi's 'overdeveloped state' thesis and at least one Indian application. (c) A 150-word note decoding the aphorism as a critique of unregulated negative liberty: unlimited freedom for the strong destroys the freedom of the weak. The answer must identify the source of the image, locate it in the negative-positive liberty debate, and judge the claim rather than merely paraphrase it. (d) A 150-word note testing the claim that legitimacy is 'always' a social construct. The word 'always' is the hinge: the answer must both establish the constructivist case (Weber, Gramsci, Habermas) and register Beetham's objection that legitimacy is not reducible to belief alone. (e) A 150-word note on how Marcuse used Freud's own categories to reach the opposite of Freud's conclusion. The answer must explain Freud's thesis, then Marcuse's inversion through surplus repression, the performance principle and non-repressive civilisation, and name 'Eros and Civilization' (1955).
Alfred Cobban, 'The Decline of Political Theory' (1953)
Peter Laslett, 'Philosophy, Politics and Society' (1956) preface
David Easton and the behavioural revolution; his 1969 post-behavioural 'credo of relevance'
John Rawls, 'A Theory of Justice' (1971)
Robert Nozick, 'Anarchy, State and Utopia' (1974)
Isaiah Berlin, 'Two Concepts of Liberty' (1958)
Hannah Arendt, Leo Strauss, Sheldon Wolin
logical positivism and the fact-value dichotomy
communitarian, feminist and multicultural extensions; Quentin Skinner and the Cambridge School
Hamza Alavi (1972), 'overdeveloped' post-colonial state, military-bureaucratic oligarchy
relative autonomy of the state; three competing propertied classes
Partha Chatterjee, derivative discourse, civil society vs political society
Ranajit Guha, 'Dominance without Hegemony'
Frantz Fanon, national bourgeoisie
Colin Leys (1976) as critic; John Saul (1974) extending the thesis to Tanzania
R. H. Tawney, 'Equality' (1931)
Isaiah Berlin quoted it in 'Two Concepts of Liberty' (1958); 'freedom for the wolves... death to the sheep' (Introduction, 'Four Essays on Liberty', 1969)
negative liberty: Hobbes, Bentham, laissez-faire and freedom of contract
T. H. Green, 'Liberal Legislation and Freedom of Contract' (1881); positive/effective freedom
L. T. Hobhouse; Rousseau's 'forced to be free'
Marx on formal vs real freedom; C. B. Macpherson
Amartya Sen, capability as real freedom
Rawls: priority of liberty plus the difference principle
Max Weber: traditional, charismatic and rational-legal legitimate domination; legitimacy as belief
Antonio Gramsci, hegemony and manufactured consent
Berger and Luckmann, 'The Social Construction of Reality' (1966)
Jurgen Habermas, 'Legitimation Crisis' (1973)
David Beetham, 'The Legitimation of Power' (1991) and its three dimensions
David Easton, diffuse support
Rousseau, 'The Social Contract', on converting strength into right
S. M. Lipset on legitimacy and effectiveness
Herbert Marcuse, 'Eros and Civilization' (1955)
Freud, 'Civilization and Its Discontents' (1930); pleasure principle vs reality principle; Eros and Thanatos
basic repression vs surplus repression
performance principle
non-repressive sublimation; Orpheus and Narcissus vs Prometheus
(a) “Rights of the man are separate and independent of the State.” Critically analyze the perspective of Laski. (20 marks)
(b) “Fortune favours the brave.” In the light of this statement, discuss Machiavelli’s concepts of ‘virtue’ and ‘fortune’. (15 marks)
(c) Discuss B. R. Ambedkar’s views on democracy and State socialism. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) “व्यक्ति के अधिकार राज्य से पृथक् और स्वतन्त्र होते हैं।” लास्की के दृष्टिकोण का आलोचनात्मक विश्लेषण कीजिए। (20 अंक)
(b) “भाग्य बहादुर का साथ देता है।” इस कथन के आलोक में मैकियावेली की ‘सद्गुण’ एवं ‘भाग्य’ अवधारणाओं की विवेचना कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) लोकतंत्र तथा राज्य समाजवाद पर बी० आर० अंबेडकर के विचारों की विवेचना कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) 'Critically analyze' requires both exposition and judgement. The answer must reconstruct Laski's argument that rights are pre-state, socially grounded and functional - not gifts of the state - and must then assess it, including the tension between Laski's early pluralism and his later Marxism. (b) 'Discuss in the light of this statement' means the whole answer must be organised around the virtu-fortuna relationship: define both terms in Machiavelli's own non-moral sense, establish their proportion and interaction, use his examples, and assess whether boldness really is his prescription. (c) Two linked sub-parts must both be answered: (i) Ambedkar's conception of democracy, and (ii) his scheme of State socialism. A strong answer connects them - for Ambedkar, political democracy without economic and social democracy is unsustainable, and State socialism is the constitutional remedy.
Harold J. Laski, 'A Grammar of Politics' (1925)
'conditions of social life without which no man can seek, in general, to be himself at his best'
'every state is known by the rights that it maintains'
rights as correlative to function; no absolute right of property
pluralism: 'Studies in the Problem of Sovereignty' (1917), 'Authority in the Modern State' (1919), 'Liberty in the Modern State' (1930)
rejection of Austinian monistic sovereignty; right of resistance
Marxist turn: 'Democracy in Crisis' (1933), 'The State in Theory and Practice' (1935)
critics: Bentham's 'nonsense upon stilts', Austin, T. H. Green, Bosanquet, Barker, MacIver
modern echo: Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); Part III and Article 32 of the Indian Constitution
Niccolo Machiavelli, 'The Prince' (1513, published 1532), Chapter XXV; 'Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livy' (1531)
virtu as prowess/adaptability, not Christian virtue; lion and fox; 'learn how not to be good'
fortuna as arbiter of half our actions; the river and the dykes; fortune as a woman who favours the bold and the young
riscontro - matching one's mode of proceeding to the times; Pope Julius II
Cesare Borgia (Duke Valentino); Agathocles of Syracuse
armed prophets - Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, Theseus - and Savonarola the unarmed prophet
occasione and necessita
civic virtu, buoni ordini and corruption in the Discourses
audentes fortuna iuvat (Virgil)
'Annihilation of Caste' (1936); democracy as a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience
'Conditions Precedent for the Successful Working of Democracy' (Poona, 1952); revolutionary change without bloodshed
Constituent Assembly speech, 25 November 1949: life of contradictions; grammar of anarchy; bhakti/hero-worship; social democracy as liberty, equality and fraternity
constitutional morality (Grote), speech of 4 November 1948
'States and Minorities' (1947); State Socialism established by the law of the Constitution
key industries and insurance as State monopoly; agriculture as a State industry; collective farming
'Buddha or Karl Marx'; rejection of violence and of the dictatorship of the proletariat
Articles 38 and 39 of the Directive Principles as the diluted residue
'Small Holdings in India and their Remedies' (1918)
(a) Mill’s work was crucial to the development of liberalism, because it straddled the divide between classical and modern theories. Analyze. (20 marks)
(b) Wollstonecraft developed first systematic feminist critique. Discuss her main ideas. (15 marks)
(c) Discuss Gandhi’s approach to property in relation to trusteeship. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) मिल का लेखन उदारवाद के विकास के लिए महत्त्वपूर्ण था, क्योंकि इसने शास्त्रीय और आधुनिक सिद्धांत के बीच की खाई को पाटा। विश्लेषण कीजिए। (20 अंक)
(b) वोलस्टोनक्राफ्ट ने पहली बार व्यवस्थित नारीवादी आलोचना विकसित की। उनके प्रमुख विचारों की चर्चा कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) न्यासिता के संबंध में सम्पत्ति के प्रति गाँधी के दृष्टिकोण की विवेचना कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) 'Analyze' the proposition that Mill is the hinge between classical and modern liberalism. The answer must show both faces - the classical, negative-liberty, laissez-faire Mill and the developmental, welfarist, democratic Mill - and then judge whether he is a bridge, a hybrid or an inconsistency. (b) 'Discuss her main ideas' - the answer must set out Wollstonecraft's substantive arguments from 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' (1792), not merely praise her. The premise that hers was the first systematic feminist critique may be accepted, but a strong answer qualifies it and assesses the limits of her position. (c) The question is narrow and specific: Gandhi's view of property, framed through trusteeship. The answer must explain his moral premises about ownership, the doctrine of trusteeship and its mechanics, the sanction behind it, and a critical evaluation - not a general essay on Gandhian thought.
'On Liberty' (1859); the harm principle; self-regarding vs other-regarding; tyranny of the majority
four grounds for freedom of speech; 'dead dogma'
'Utilitarianism' (1861); higher and lower pleasures; Socrates dissatisfied
individuality as an element of well-being; the tree, not the machine
'Principles of Political Economy' (1848); laissez-faire as the general practice; later revisions
cooperatives, trade unions, inheritance and land taxation; 'Chapters on Socialism' (1879)
'Considerations on Representative Government' (1861); plural voting; C. B. Macpherson's developmental democracy
'The Subjection of Women' (1869); the 1867 Reform Bill amendment ('person' for 'man')
the 'barbarians' passage and the imperialism critique (Bhikhu Parekh, Uday Singh Mehta)
Bentham and James Mill as the classical baseline; T. H. Green and Hobhouse as the modern successors
'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' (1792); 'A Vindication of the Rights of Men' (1790)
dedication to Talleyrand and his 1791 report on national education
reason as unsexed; inferiority as the product of miseducation
critique of Rousseau's Sophie in 'Emile' (1762)
conduct writers: Dr John Gregory, James Fordyce, Lord Chesterfield
critique of sensibility; women as toys/spaniels; marriage as legal prostitution
national co-educational day schools; economic independence and the professions; representation for women
virtue is the same for both sexes; 'revolution in female manners'
precursors: Christine de Pizan (1405), Mary Astell (1694), Olympe de Gouges (1791)
influence on J. S. Mill and Harriet Taylor; liberal/equality feminism
Isha Upanishad, first verse; aparigraha and asteya
Ruskin's 'Unto This Last'; Gandhi's 'Sarvodaya' (1908); Tolstoy
trusteeship: possession without absolute ownership; the rich as trustees of surplus wealth
rights flowing from duties; means-end unity and ahimsa
'Economic equality is the master key to non-violent independence' - 'Constructive Programme' (1941)
non-violent non-cooperation and satyagraha by workers as the sanction; Ahmedabad 1918, Majoor Mahajan Sangh
Practical Trusteeship Formula (1942); minimum and maximum income; legislative regulation
critics: Nehru, Jayaprakash Narayan and the Congress socialists, Ambedkar, Marxists
Vinoba Bhave, Bhoodan (Pochampally, 1951) and Gramdan
Articles 39(b) and 39(c) of the Directive Principles
(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 marks)
(b) What is capability approach? Elaborate the distinctive features of the capability theory of equality. (15 marks)
(c) Analyze Kautilya’s Saptanga theory. How do you explain its significance in present-day politics? (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) ‘‘प्रतिनिधि लोकतंत्र कोई निरपेक्ष सिद्धांत नहीं है, बल्कि यह समय, स्थान और परिस्थितियों का विषय है।’’ इस कथन का विश्लेषण कीजिए। प्रतिनिधि लोकतंत्र की मुख्य चुनौतियों के बारे में बताइए। (20 अंक)
(b) सामर्थ्य उपागम से आप क्या समझते हैं? समानता के सामर्थ्य सिद्धांत के विशेष लक्षणों को विस्तारपूर्वक वर्णित कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) कौटिल्य के सप्तांग सिद्धांत का विश्लेषण कीजिए। समकालीन राजनीति में आप इसके महत्त्व को कैसे समझाएँगे? (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) Two explicit tasks: (i) analyse the claim that representative democracy is contingent on time, place and circumstance rather than an absolute principle, and (ii) set out the major challenges facing it. Both must be attempted; an answer that lists challenges without engaging the contingency claim is incomplete. (b) Two parts: (i) define the capability approach, and (ii) elaborate what is distinctive about capability as a theory of equality. The second part requires contrast with rival answers to 'equality of what?' - income, resources, primary goods, utility - not merely a restatement of the definition. (c) Two tasks: (i) analyse the Saptanga theory - name and explain all seven elements and the logic that binds them, and (ii) explain its significance for present-day politics. Naming fewer than seven prakritis, or offering relevance without analysis, will not satisfy the question.
J. S. Mill, 'Considerations on Representative Government' (1861) on fitness and the conditions of applicability
Robert Dahl, 'Polyarchy' (1971) and its institutional conditions
Arend Lijphart, consociational democracy (1977); 'Patterns of Democracy' (1999)
Edmund Burke, Speech to the Electors of Bristol (1774) - trustee vs delegate
Hanna Pitkin, 'The Concept of Representation' (1967) - formalistic, descriptive, symbolic, substantive
Joseph Schumpeter, 'Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy' (1942) - competitive struggle for the people's vote
Amartya Sen, democracy as a universal value; famine and free press
Colin Crouch, 'Post-Democracy' (2004); Bernard Manin, 'audience democracy' (1997)
Levitsky and Ziblatt, 'How Democracies Die' (2018)
Article 326 (universal adult suffrage); Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India (2024) on electoral bonds; 73rd and 74th Amendments; 106th Amendment (2023)
Carole Pateman, 'Participation and Democratic Theory' (1970); Habermas and deliberative democracy
Amartya Sen, 'Equality of What?' (1979); 'Development as Freedom' (1999); 'Inequality Reexamined' (1992)
Answer the following in about 150 words each :
(a) How did Swadeshi grow into a demand for Swaraj? (10 marks)
(b) The Constitution of India was secular even before the word was included in the Preamble. Comment. (10 marks)
(c) Identity has become an important phenomenon in the modern politics in India. Discuss. (10 marks)
(d) Ending proxy leadership in Panchayati Raj is a necessary step towards true grassroots democracy. Comment. (10 marks)
(e) Discuss the impact of liberalization on agriculture sector in India. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित में से प्रत्येक का उत्तर लगभग 150 शब्दों में दीजिए :
(a) स्वदेशी की भावना स्वराज की माँग में कैसे परिवर्तित हुई? (10 अंक)
(b) भारत का संविधान प्रस्तावना में ‘धर्मनिरपेक्ष’ शब्द जोड़े जाने से पहले भी धर्मनिरपेक्ष था। टिप्पणी कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(c) भारत की आधुनिक राजनीति में पहचान एक अहम विषय बन गई है। विवेचना कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(d) पंचायती राज में परोक्ष नेतृत्व का अंत करना वास्तविक आधारिक लोकतंत्र की दिशा में एक आवश्यक कदम है। टिप्पणी कीजिए। (10 अंक)
(e) भारत में कृषि क्षेत्र पर उदारीकरण के प्रभाव की विवेचना कीजिए। (10 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) 'How did' asks for a causal account, not a chronology. The answer must trace the transformation of a boycott-and-indigenous-goods campaign after the 1905 Partition of Bengal into an explicit political demand for self-rule, and must date the moment the Congress adopted Swaraj as its goal. (b) 'Comment' on the proposition that the Constitution was already secular before 1976. The answer must date the insertion of the word, then demonstrate the pre-existing secular provisions by article number, cite the judicial confirmation, and register the debate about what Indian secularism means. (c) 'Discuss' the rise of identity as a central axis of Indian politics. The answer must map the main identity cleavages with concrete Indian evidence, explain why identity became salient when it did, and evaluate the consequences for democracy. (d) 'Comment' on the claim that ending proxy leadership - the sarpanch-pati phenomenon - is necessary for genuine grassroots democracy. The answer must define proxy leadership, give the constitutional context of women's reservation in panchayats, assess the evidence on both sides, and take a position on 'necessary'. (e) 'Discuss the impact' requires a balanced assessment of what liberalisation since 1991, including India's WTO commitments, has done to Indian agriculture - positive and negative - and its political consequences. A one-sided denunciation or celebration will not score.
Partition of Bengal - announced 19 July 1905, effective 16 October 1905; Lord Curzon
Calcutta Town Hall boycott resolution, 7 August 1905
National Council of Education (1906); Bengal National College; Aurobindo Ghose
(a) From passive resistors to armed revolutionaries, the Indian Freedom Struggle has a strong imprint of women freedom fighters. Elucidate. (20 marks)
(b) When there are multiple stakeholders of power, conversation and consensus become the natural ingredients of governance. Analyze with respect to coalition politics. (15 marks)
(c) Evaluate the Centre-State relation with reference to Article 293 and analyze its implications for the Indian federal structure. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) निष्क्रिय प्रतिरोधियों से लेकर सशस्त्र क्रान्तिकारियों तक, भारतीय स्वतंत्रता संग्राम में महिला स्वतंत्रता सेनानियों की गहरी छाप है। प्रकाश डालिए। (20 अंक)
(b) जब सत्ता में कई हितधारक शामिल होते हैं, तो संवाद और सहमति शासन के स्वाभाविक तत्व बन जाते हैं। गठबंधन राजनीति के संबंध में विश्लेषण कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) अनुच्छेद 293 के संदर्भ में केंद्र-राज्य सम्बन्ध का मूल्यांकन करते हुए भारतीय संघवादी ढाँचे पर उसके प्रभावों का विश्लेषण कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) 'Elucidate' the full spectrum named in the statement - from passive resistance to armed revolution - so the answer must be organised as a typology of women's participation across phases and forms, naming individuals and their specific acts, and must close with an assessment of what participation achieved and what it did not. (b) 'Analyze with respect to coalition politics' means the proposition - that multiple power-holders force dialogue and consensus - must be tested against the Indian experience of coalition government, with named coalitions, mechanisms and counter-evidence. (c) Two linked tasks: evaluate Centre-State relations through the specific lens of Article 293 (borrowing by States), and analyse what the resulting arrangement implies for Indian federalism. The answer must reproduce the substance of the four clauses of Article 293 accurately, not merely discuss fiscal federalism in general.
Annie Besant - Home Rule League 1916, Congress president 1917; Women's Indian Association 1917; All India Women's Conference 1927
Sarojini Naidu - Congress president at Kanpur 1925; Dharasana salt raid 1930
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay; Kasturba Gandhi; Hansa Mehta
Pritilata Waddedar (Pahartali, 1932); Kalpana Datta (Surya Sen's Chittagong group); Bina Das (1932); Santi Ghose and Suniti Choudhury (Comilla, 1931); Durgawati Devi
Aruna Asaf Ali (Gowalia Tank, 9 August 1942); Usha Mehta (Congress Radio); Matangini Hazra (Tamluk, 1942)
Rani of Jhansi Regiment, Azad Hind Fauj (1943); Captain Lakshmi Sahgal; Subhas Chandra Bose
Rani Gaidinliu; Chakali Ailamma (Telangana); Ila Mitra (Tebhaga/Nachole)
fifteen women in the Constituent Assembly; Dakshayani Velayudhan; Rajkumari Amrit Kaur; Durgabai Deshmukh; Begum Aizaz Rasul
Partha Chatterjee on the nationalist resolution of the women's question; Geraldine Forbes; Radha Kumar, 'The History of Doing' (1993); 'Towards Equality' (1974)
1967 SVD governments; Janata Party 1977; National Front 1989; United Front 1996-98; NDA 1998-2004; UPA 2004-2014; 2014 and 2019 majorities; 2024 (BJP 240 seats)
National Agenda for Governance (1998); National Common Minimum Programme (2004); UPA-Left Coordination Committee; 'coalition dharma'
Inter-State Council under Article 263, constituted 1990; Sarkaria Commission
S. R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) - floor test, Article 356
GST Council, Article 279A, 101st Amendment (2016)
Tenth Schedule and the 52nd Amendment (1985); Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992); 91st Amendment (2003), Articles 75(1A) and 164(1A)
William Riker, minimum winning coalition (1962); Arend Lijphart, consociational/consensus democracy; Giovanni Sartori, polarised pluralism
Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar - federalisation of the party system; E. Sridharan
Left withdrawal of support over the India-US nuclear deal (2008)
Article 293(1), (2), (3) and (4) - borrowing by States; Consolidated Fund of the State
'within the territory of India' - States cannot borrow abroad directly
Article 292 - Union borrowing; no parliamentary limit has ever been fixed
Net Borrowing Ceiling fixed annually under Article 293(3)
FRBM Act 2003 and State FRBM laws; Twelfth Finance Commission
Fifteenth Finance Commission fiscal-deficit path and power-sector-linked extra borrowing
Covid additional borrowing of 2 per cent of GSDP (May 2020) with reform conditionalities
off-budget borrowings counted against the ceiling
101st Amendment (2016), GST Council under Article 279A; end of compensation in June 2022; cesses and surcharges outside the divisible pool under Article 270
Kerala's Article 131 suit on the borrowing ceiling, referred to a larger bench in 2024
Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions; Inter-State Council under Article 263; the Loan Council proposal
(a) Elucidate the prominent trends in voting behaviour in contemporary India, and discuss how astroturfing affects the scenario. (20 marks)
(b) Highlight any five constitutional provisions that restrain the powers of the executive, and evaluate their effectiveness in current times. (15 marks)
(c) Map the different types of ethnic conflicts that have emerged in 21st century India. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) समकालीन भारत में मतदान व्यवहार की प्रमुख प्रवृत्तियों को स्पष्ट कीजिए, और विवेचन कीजिए कि एस्ट्रोटर्फिंग इस परिदृश्य को कैसे प्रभावित करती है। (20 अंक)
(b) कार्यपालिका की शक्तियों पर अंकुश लगाने वाले किन्हीं पाँच संवैधानिक उपबंधों को रेखांकित करते हुए, वर्तमान समय में उनकी प्रभावशीलता का मूल्यांकन कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) 21वीं सदी के भारत में उभरे विभिन्न प्रकार के नृजातीय संघर्षों को रेखांकित कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) Two explicit tasks: (i) elucidate the prominent trends in voting behaviour in contemporary India, and (ii) discuss how astroturfing affects that scenario. Astroturfing must be defined correctly as manufactured, sponsored mobilisation disguised as spontaneous grassroots opinion, and its effects must be traced to specific mechanisms. (b) Two tasks with a numerical instruction: highlight any FIVE constitutional provisions that restrain executive power, and evaluate how effective each is today. Fewer than five provisions, or five provisions listed without evaluation, will not satisfy the question. (c) 'Map the different types' demands a typology, not a narrative. The answer must classify twenty-first-century ethnic conflicts in India into distinct categories, illustrate each with a dated Indian example, and close with the analytical frame and the institutional responses.
Lokniti-CSDS National Election Studies; Yogendra Yadav's second democratic upsurge
reversal of the gender gap in turnout (2019: about 67.18 per cent women against 67.01 per cent men; 2024: 65.78 against 65.55 per cent)
Mukulika Banerjee, 'Why India Votes?' (2014)
Rajni Kothari, 'Caste in Indian Politics' (1970); M. N. Srinivas - dominant caste, vote bank; Christophe Jaffrelot
new welfarism / the labharthi or beneficiary vote; direct benefit transfers
personalisation of leadership; pro-incumbency; split-ticket voting across the two arenas
Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India (15 February 2024) - electoral bonds struck down, Article 19(1)(a)
astroturfing - definition as manufactured grassroots; Lloyd Bentsen's coinage; IT cells, bots, sockpuppets, coordinated inauthentic behaviour, deepfakes
bandwagon effect; Noelle-Neumann's spiral of silence; echo chambers and filter bubbles
Model Code of Conduct and social media; Voluntary Code of Ethics (2019); section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951; Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015)
Articles 75(3) and 164(2) - collective responsibility; Articles 75(1A) and 164(1A) and the 91st Amendment (2003)
(a) Discuss the causes and consequences of inter-State water disputes in India. (20 marks)
(b) Critically comment on the shifts in the functioning of the Indian Parliament in the last two decades. (15 marks)
(c) "The lack of political will in preventing environmental degradation is one of the major challenges that India is experiencing." Comment. (15 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) भारत में अंतर-राज्यीय जल विवादों के कारणों एवं परिणामों की विवेचना कीजिए। (20 अंक)
(b) पिछले दो दशकों में भारतीय संसद की कार्यप्रणाली में आए बदलावों पर आलोचनात्मक टिप्पणी कीजिए। (15 अंक)
(c) ‘‘पर्यावरणीय अवक्रमण को रोकने में राजनीतिक इच्छाशक्ति में कमी भारत के समक्ष मौजूद बड़ी चुनौतियों में से एक है।’’ टिप्पणी कीजिए। (15 अंक)
Answer approach & key points
(a) Two explicit halves: causes and consequences of inter-State water disputes in India. The constitutional and statutory framework must be stated accurately, at least three or four named disputes must be used as evidence, and the answer should end with a way forward. (b) 'Critically comment on the shifts' over roughly the last twenty years. The answer must identify specific, evidenced changes in how Parliament works - time, scrutiny, legislative technique, disruption, institutional change - and must be critical, which means registering the gains as well as the decline. (c) 'Comment' on a strong causal claim - that the principal obstacle to arresting environmental degradation in India is a deficit of political will. The answer must test the claim: establish the evidence of degradation, show where political will is genuinely absent, but also weigh the counter-evidence and the alternative explanations of capacity, federal structure and political economy.
Entry 17 of the State List; Entry 56 of the Union List; Article 262 and 262(2)
Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956; River Boards Act, 1956 (never used); 2002 amendment timelines; 2019 amendment Bill (not enacted)
Cauvery: tribunal 1990, award February 2007, Supreme Court judgment February 2018, Cauvery Water Management Authority
Krishna (Bachawat 1969, Brijesh Kumar 2004); Godavari; Narmada award 1979
Ravi-Beas and the Sutlej-Yamuna Link; Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004 held unconstitutional on Presidential Reference (2016)
Mahadayi award (2018); Vansadhara and Mahanadi tribunals; Mullaperiyar; Andhra Pradesh-Telangana after 2014
equitable apportionment versus territorial sovereignty and prior appropriation; Helsinki Rules 1966
Mihir Shah Committee (2016) and the proposed National Water Commission
Cauvery riots of 1991 and 2016; non-compliance with tribunal and Supreme Court orders
Inter-State Council under Article 263; the proposal to move water to the Concurrent List
decline in sittings - well over a hundred a year in the 1950s against roughly sixty or fewer recently
Departmentally Related Standing Committees (1993, expanded 2004); falling rate of reference of bills
guillotining of demands for grants; curtailment and suspension of Question Hour (monsoon session 2020)
mass suspension of about 146 opposition MPs in December 2023
farm laws passed by voice vote, September 2020; J&K Reorganisation Act 2019; the three criminal law codes, December 2023
Money Bill route under Article 110; Aadhaar Act 2016; Rojer Mathew v. South Indian Bank (2019) reference
ordinances under Article 123; Krishna Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar (2017)
Tenth Schedule and the whip; private members' bills
new Parliament building (2023); Sansad TV (2021); Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023
B. L. Shankar and Valerian Rodrigues, 'The Indian Parliament: A Democratic Transformation' (2011); Kapur and Mehta on public institutions
Article 93 and the Deputy Speaker vacancy; return of a Leader of the Opposition in 2024
Articles 48A and 51A(g), inserted by the 42nd Amendment (1976); Article 21 jurisprudence
Environment (Protection) Act 1986 (after Bhopal, 1984); Water Act 1974; Air Act 1981; Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 and its 2023 amendment; Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972; Forest Rights Act 2006; National Green Tribunal Act 2010
Subhash Kumar (1991); M. C. Mehta Oleum case (1987); Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum (1996); M. C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath (1997); T. N. Godavarman (1996); M. K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2024)
draft EIA Notification 2020; post-facto clearance barred in Common Cause (2017) and Alembic Pharmaceuticals (2020)
Western Ghats: Gadgil report (2011) and Kasturirangan report (2013); unfinalised ESA notification
National Clean Air Programme (2019); Commission for Air Quality Management (2021); Lancet Planetary Health (2020) estimate of about 1.67 million deaths
Panchamrit at COP26 (2021); net zero by 2070; 500 GW non-fossil by 2030; International Solar Alliance; Mission LiFE; National Green Hydrogen Mission
Project Tiger and the 2022 all-India estimation; Namami Gange
Ramachandra Guha and Juan Martinez-Alier, 'Varieties of Environmentalism' (1997); Gadgil and Guha, 'This Fissured Land' (1992); Amita Baviskar; Elinor Ostrom, 'Governing the Commons' (1990); Hardin's tragedy of the commons
Chipko (1973), Silent Valley, Narmada Bachao Andolan; Niyamgiri and gram sabha consent; PESA 1996