UGC NET POLITICAL SCIENCE

Complete Module & Study Planner

Paper II — Subject Code: 02

Exam Pattern at a Glance

MASTER STUDY PLAN & TIME FRAMEWORK

6-Month Preparation Timeline

Weekly Schedule Template

UNIT 1: POLITICAL THEORY

1.1 Core Concepts

Master these foundational concepts first — they form the scaffolding for every other unit.

Liberty

• Negative Liberty — Freedom from interference (Isaiah Berlin, J.S. Mill)
• Positive Liberty — Freedom to achieve one's potential (T.H. Green, Rousseau)
• Republican Liberty — Non-domination; freedom from arbitrary power (Philip Pettit)
• Key Debates: Berlin's Two Concepts of Liberty (1958); MacCallum's triadic formula

Equality

• Formal Equality — Equal treatment under law
• Equality of Opportunity — Fair competition for positions
• Equality of Outcome — Reducing actual disparities (socialist ideal)
• Rawlsian Equality — Difference Principle: inequalities allowed only if they benefit the least advantaged
• Key Thinkers: Rawls, Nozick (against patterned equality), Dworkin (equality of resources)

Justice

• Distributive Justice — How goods are allocated in society (Rawls, Nozick, Marx)
• Retributive Justice — Punishment proportionate to wrongdoing
• Restorative Justice — Repairing harm, reconciliation
• Social Justice — Structural approach addressing systemic inequalities
• Key: Rawls' Veil of Ignorance; Nozick's Entitlement Theory

Rights

• Natural Rights — Pre-political, held by virtue of humanity (Locke: life, liberty, property)
• Negative Rights — Duties of non-interference (civil and political rights)
• Positive Rights — Duties to provide (social, economic, cultural rights)
• Human Rights — Universal; codified in UDHR (1948)
• Group Rights — Rights of communities and minorities (Kymlicka)

Democracy

• Direct Democracy — Citizens decide directly (Athenian model)
• Representative Democracy — Elected representatives govern
• Liberal Democracy — Combines popular rule + constitutional rights
• Deliberative Democracy — Rational public discourse as legitimacy (Habermas)
• Participatory Democracy — Maximising citizen involvement (Pateman, Barber)

Power

• Power Over — Coercive domination (Dahl's pluralist model: A makes B do what B wouldn't)
• Power To — Capacity to act (Hannah Arendt: power as collective action)
• Three Faces/Dimensions of Power: Lukes — decision-making, non-decision-making, agenda-setting
• Foucaultian Power — Diffuse, relational, embedded in knowledge/discourse

Citizenship

• Marshall's Three Dimensions: Civil (18th c.) → Political (19th c.) → Social (20th c.)
• Liberal Citizenship — Rights-based, passive
• Republican Citizenship — Active duty-based participation
• Multicultural Citizenship — Group-differentiated rights (Kymlicka)
• Cosmopolitan Citizenship — Global citizenship beyond nation-state

1.2 Political Traditions (Ideologies)

These are directly mentioned in the official syllabus. Expect 5–7 questions from this section alone.

Liberalism

• Core values: Individualism, Liberty, Tolerance, Rule of Law, Limited Government, Pluralism
• Classical Liberalism: Locke, Mill, Smith — minimal state, free markets, negative liberty
• Modern/Social Liberalism: Rawls, Keynes, T.H. Green — welfare state, positive liberty
• Neoliberalism: Hayek, Friedman — revival of market fundamentalism, critique of welfare state
• Key critique: ignores economic power; atomistic individualism

Conservatism

• Core values: Tradition, Organic change, Social order, Hierarchy, Continuity
• Edmund Burke — Society as partnership between generations; against radical revolution
• Social Conservatism — Traditional family, religion, national identity
• Fiscal Conservatism — Free markets, minimal state expenditure
• Neoconservatism — Market economics + aggressive foreign policy (US context)
• One-Nation Conservatism (Disraeli) — Social reform to preserve hierarchy

Socialism

• Core values: Equality, Solidarity, Collective ownership, Meeting human needs
• Democratic Socialism — Parliamentary path to socialism (Bernstein, Fabian Society)
• Revolutionary Socialism — Overthrow of capitalism (Lenin)
• Market Socialism — Worker-owned firms with price mechanisms
• Utopian Socialism — Owen, Saint-Simon, Fourier
• Key critique of liberalism: economic inequality undermines political freedom

Marxism

• Historical Materialism — Economic base determines political/cultural superstructure
• Class Struggle — Bourgeoisie vs Proletariat as engine of history
• Dialectical Materialism — Thesis → Antithesis → Synthesis (Hegel + Marx)
• Alienation — Worker estranged from product, process, species-being, other humans
• Ideology — Ruling class ideas presented as universal (false consciousness)
• Variants: Leninism (vanguard party), Trotskyism (permanent revolution), Gramsci (hegemony), Frankfurt School

Feminism

• Liberal Feminism — Equal rights within existing structures (Wollstonecraft, NOW)
• Radical Feminism — Patriarchy as root oppression; personal is political
• Socialist Feminism — Intersection of capitalism and patriarchy (Juliet Mitchell)
• Intersectional Feminism — Gender × race × class × sexuality (Kimberlé Crenshaw)
• Postmodern/Queer Feminism — Gender as performance, not essence (Judith Butler)
• Eco-Feminism — Link between domination of women and nature

Ecologism

• Shallow Ecology / Environmentalism — Manage nature for human benefit
• Deep Ecology — Nature has intrinsic value; anthropocentrism is wrong (Naess)
• Eco-Socialism — Environmental destruction rooted in capitalism
• Eco-Feminism — Parallel domination of women and nature
• Sustainability — Meeting present needs without compromising future generations (Brundtland)
• Climate Justice — Who bears burden of ecological crisis (Global South perspective)

Multiculturalism

• Descriptive: Modern societies contain diverse cultural communities
• Normative: State should recognise and accommodate cultural diversity
• Will Kymlicka — Minority group rights protect 'societal cultures'
• Types: Liberal multiculturalism, communitarian multiculturalism
• Interculturalism — Dialogue and integration model (alternative to multiculturalism)
• Critiques: Left — fragments class solidarity; Right — undermines national cohesion

Postmodernism

• Skepticism of grand narratives — Lyotard: rejection of meta-narratives (Enlightenment, Marxism)
• Foucault — Power/Knowledge nexus; genealogy of institutions
• Derrida — Deconstruction; logocentrism; difference
• Baudrillard — Simulacra; hyperreality; signs replace reality
• Political implications: Emphasis on difference, plurality, local resistance
• Critique: Undermines foundations for emancipatory politics