Overview

Politics: An Introduction What is politics? Almost every day we not only read and hear but also speak the word "politics". China is doing politics in Galvan American politics is not easy to understand Politics of Pakistan and ISI is always troublesome for us India should leave politics like soft state etc. etc. So, what the politics is all about? Mainly politics is the study of power. But A special kind of power. The power that humans exert over one another.Let’s take an example - “A gun may be powerful but its power is only physical until a human takes control over it. After human control, the gun power turn from physical to political. “ Politics as a discipline addresses the concept of power. 1. What it is? 2. Who should have it? 3. Under What conditions? 4. when should it be exercised? 5. In what way and for whom? 6. is it more important that it is fair or effective? Lots of questions are there.The analysis of power in the form of political theory was born in Ancient Greece. The legacy of thoughts was started from Socrates, which was then carried out by his student Plato and then transferred to his student Aristotle. Aristotle ‘s politics contains the famous line “Men is a political animal”. It means that it is our nature to live in societies and to have power over one another but how we arrange these things, Aristotle says is up to us. This theory of thoughts took a very interesting turn, when Aristotle passed this legacy to his student Alexander and made him one of the greatest warriors of the world. A same scenario was to be seen in India where Kautilya (which is also known as Chanakya) a political thinker trained his student Chandragupta Maurya to be his warrior. These examples are proof that political theories can also be used as a practical weapon. Acharya Chanakya said it very wisely that, “The teacher is never ordinary, both catastrophe and creation play in his lap." As a student of politics, we will study the core paper of BA honours, that is Paper 1 - Understanding Political Theory

Syllabus

Lesson Plan
Week 1: 1. Political Theory : Meaning and Significance 2. Politics and Different Concepts 3. Liberalism 4. Socialism 5. Marxism
Week 2: 6. Anarchism 7. Concept of State – (Definition and Elements) 8. State - Functions and Justifications 9. Origin of the State - Divine Theory 10. Austin’s theory of sovereignty
Week 3: 11. Theory of Origin of State- Social Contract Theory 12. Evolutionary Theory of the Origin of the State 13. Theory of Origin of State- - Force Theory 14. Pluralism 15. Public welfare State
Week 4: 16. Nationalism Part -1 17. Nationalism Part -2 18. Concept of Power 19. Concept of Authority 20. Sovereignty Week 5: 21. Law- Concept and Characteristics 22. Liberty 23. Laski and Mill’s Views on Liberty 24. Marxist Notion of Liberty 25. Concept of Equality Week 6: 26. Concept of Justice 27. Concept of Rights 28. Bentham and Utilitarianism 29. Feminism Part-1 - Approach and Perspective 30. Feminism Part- 2 - Personal is Political Week 7: 31. Meaning of democracy (Liberal, Direct and Indirect democracy) 32. Merits and Demerits of Democracy (Democracy in India) 33. Modern Approach- Foreign Policy Dimension (Democracy Promotion) 34. Classical Democracy 35. Participatory Democracy
Week 8: 36. Deliberative Democracy and Social Democracy 37. People’s Democracy 38. Pluralist Theory 39. Elitist Theory Week 9: 40. Marxist Theory 41. Cosmopolitan Democracy 42. E-Democracy 43. Principles of Adult or Universal Franchise 44. Concept of Direct Election
Week 10:45. Concept of Indirect Election, Proportional Representation and Single Transferable Vote System 46. List System 47. Accountability
Week 11:48. Citizenship (Concept) 49. Types of Citizenship 50. Election Commission - Organizations, Powers and Functions 51. Electoral Reforms (Pre 2000) 52. Electoral Reforms (Post 2000)
Week 12:53. Electoral Reforms (Issues, Challenges and Suggestions) 54. The Party System (Single Party System) 55. The Party System (Multi Party System) 56. Public Opinion (Concept, Tools and Present Scenario)