Paper: IAS Mains Previous Year Paper Political Science (1983) 

Paper-I- Political Science-1983 (Mains)

SECTION A

1. Comment on any three of the following in about 200 words each:
(a) 'Indeed it is generally true that it is a difficult business for men to live together and to be partners in any form of human activity, but it is specially difficult to do so when property is involved.' (Aristotle)
(b) A wise prince then seeks advice continually but when it suits him and not when it suits somebody else'. (Machiavelli)
(c) 'A strong and healthy constitution is the first thing to look for ; and it is better to count on the vigour which comes of good government than on the resources a great territory furnishes'. (Rousseau)
(d) 'During the lifetime of great revolutionaries the oppressing classes have visited relentless persecution on them and received their teaching with the most savage hostility, the most furious hatred, the most ruthless campaign of lies and slanders'. (Lenin)

2. Give a critical account of Kautilya's political ideas and examine their relevance to the contemporary ideas of government and politics.

3. 'The newer currents in political "science are more accurately perceived as the recovery of a great tradition than as a radical deviation from it'. Comment

4. 'Democracy is a theory of society as well as a theory of government'. Discuss.

SECTION B

5. Comment on any three of the following in about 200 words each :
(a) The linchpin of the Indian political system is the Prime Minister.
(b) The goal envisaged by the Indian Constitution is that of a 'Welfare State' and the establishment of a 'Socialist State'.
(c) Community and caste still threaten social harmony and political peace (in India).
(d) The States are allotted a subordinate position in the Indian Union by the Constitution.

6. Discuss in the light of electoral politics in the Indian States the factors which prevent a healthy growth of a two-party system.

7. Explain the basic assumptions of Gandhian planning and discuss whether it would help India to achieve economic prosperity.

8. Describe the organization and progress of Panchayati Raj institutions in India and examine the extent to which they serve as instruments of rural reconstruction and rural development.

Paper - II- Political Science-1983 (Mains)

SECTION A

1. Comment in about 200 words each on any three of the following:
(a) NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) is not discriminatory.
(b) The attitude of any two South Asian countries to the Indian Ocean being made a zone of peace.
(c) The Lebanon crisis.
(d) The significance of South Asian Foreign Ministers meeting.

2. ‘The concept of power is so elusive and yet so central to the study of international relations. ‘Never before in human history has power been so imposing and yet to important as it has been since the development of nuclear weapons’. In the light of these statements, evaluate the utility of the concept of power for the understanding of international relations.

3. "The systems theory as developed by Morton Kaplan for the study of international relations lacks some of the essential characteristics of the systems perspective.' Discuss whether and, if so, how far this statement is correct.

4. 'However grand its declared objectives, the United Nations by its very structure is ill-equipped to bring about an international order based on peace and justice.'
Examine whether and, if so, how far this statement is correct.

SECTION B

5. Comment in about 200 words each on any three of the following:
(a) The achievements and failures of the Seventh Non-Aligned Summit.
(b) The role of EEC in international relations.
(c) Certain resources being the common heritage of mankind.
(d) The International Court of Justice.

6. 'The foreign policy of a country is merely the extension of its domestic politics.' Discuss this statement and examine whether and, if so, how far the shifts in Indian foreign policy during 1970's and 1980's can be understood in terms of changes in India's domestic environment.

7. Discuss the part played by cultural imperialism and economic aid as instruments of external intervention.

8. Clearly indicate the meaning of the term "Third World" and distinguish it from the First, the Second and the Non-Aligned Worlds. In this context, discuss the goals of Third World diplomacy and the extent to which it has succeeded in achieving these goals.