ISC Political Science Class 12 Syllabus
Part I (20 marks) consists of compulsory short answer
questions, testing knowledge, application and skills relating to elementary/
fundamental aspects of the entire syllabus.
Part II (60 marks) is divided into two sections A & B.
You are required to answer three questions out of five from Section A and
two questions out of three from Section B. Each question in this part
carries 12 marks.
SECTION A: Constitution and Government
1. Forms of Government
Totalitarian and Authoritarian States, Liberal Democratic
State, Unitary and Federal States, Parliamentary and Presidential forms of
government.
Meaning and features of Totalitarian State, Authoritarian
State and Liberal Democratic State.
Meaning and features of Unitary and Federal States with
reference to U.K. as a Unitary state, U.S.A. as a Federal State and India as a
Quasi-federal State.
Meaning and features of Parliamentary and Presidential
forms of government (U.K. and U.S.A.).
2. Constitution
Meaning; kinds of Constitutions: Written and Unwritten,
Rigid and Flexible, Enacted and Evolved: merits and demerits. Amending
procedures; Conventions.
Meaning; kinds: Written and Unwritten, Rigid and
Flexible, Enacted and Evolved: merits, demerits of each. Is the difference
between Written and Unwritten, Rigid and Flexible a real one?
Amending procedures of the Constitutions of U.K., U.S.A
and India.
Conventions: meaning and examples with reference to U.K.,
U.S.A. and India.
3. Franchise and Representation
Universal Adult Franchise; Methods of Election;
Constituency; Minority Representation. Political Parties; Party System.
Universal Adult Franchise - meaning, merits and demerits.
Methods of Election: Direct and Indirect - meaning.
Meaning of Constituency, Single member and Multi-member.
First Past the Post System – meaning, merits and
demerits.
Minority Representation - meaning, rationale and kinds:
Proportional Representation, Cumulative Vote System, Nomination and
Reservation.
Political Parties - meaning, definition and functions.
Kinds – Single party, Bi-party, Multi- party system - meaning, merits and
demerits.
Organs of the Government
4. The Legislature
Functions of Legislature; Unicameral and Bicameral
legislatures. The legislature in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study.
Meaning and functions of Legislature. Meaning of
Unicameral and Bi-cameral legislature. The legislatures in India and U.S.A.-
Composition (strength, method of election and tenure) and functions
(legislative, constituent, executive, judicial, electoral and financial), of
the legislatures in these two countries - a comparative study.
Composition and powers of the House of Representatives
and the Senate, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Comparison of the Rajya Sabha and the U.S. Senate; Lok
Sabha with the U.S. House of Representatives.
5. The Executive
Functions; The Civil Services. Difference between the
Political Executive and the Permanent Executive. Political Executive in India
and U.S.A. - a comparative study.
Meaning, and functions of the Executive. Meaning and role
of Civil Services.
Difference between the Political and Permanent Executive
in India. Political Executive in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study. Powers
and functions of executive heads of India (President and Prime Minister), and
U.S.A. (President). Changing role of the Indian Prime Minister in the Coalition
Era (1996 onwards) – with reference to increasing role of regional political
parties.
6. The Judiciary
Meaning and functions of Judiciary. Conditions of
Independence of Judiciary. Judiciary in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study.
Judicial Review.
Meaning and functions of judiciary; conditions of
independence of judiciary with reference to India and U.S.A. The Judiciary in
India and U.S.A. – composition and powers of Indian Supreme Court and American
Supreme Court. Judicial Review – meaning, principles and critical evaluation
with special reference to U.S.A. and India. Meaning of Judicial Activism and
Judicial Restraint.
SECTION B: Indian Democracy
7. Indian
Constitution
(i) Preamble
Preamble and its importance. Meaning of the key words
contained in the Preamble.
(ii) Salient features
of the Indian Constitution.
Written and Comprehensive; a Constitution drawn from
several sources; Federal structure with Unitary spirit; Partly rigid and Partly
flexible; Fundamental Rights and Duties; Directive Principles of State Policy;
Parliamentary form of Government; Single Citizenship; Bi-cameral legislature;
Universal Adult Franchise; Single Integrated and Independent Judiciary;
Judicial Review; Emergency powers; Special provisions for Schedule castes and
Schedule tribes.
8. Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles
Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State
Policy.
Fundamental Rights: meaning and importance of Fundamental Rights;
detailed study of all Fundamental Rights in India.
Directive Principles of
State Policy: meaning and
purpose; classification, importance and implementation.
Relationship between Fundamental Rights and Directive
Principles of State Policy.
9. Local self-government
73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts.
Three tier system of Panchayati Raj: Rural and Urban
local bodies - their composition; features of 73rd and 74th Amendments.
Challenges and solutions.
10. Democracy in India - a perspective of the challenges faced.
(i) Challenges faced by the Indian Democracy: Caste,
Communalism, Regionalism and Political Violence. Strengthening Indian Democracy.
Caste: meaning, role of caste in Indian Politics.
Communalism: meaning and effects.
Regionalism: meaning and causes.
Political Violence: meaning, forms and effects.
Strengthening Indian Democracy: measures to overcome the
challenges faced by Indian Democracy.
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