[Topper Strategy] How I prepared political science for mains - Abhiram G Sankar

[abhiramatl]

In response to queries regarding my political science preparation, I’ve decided to put up this post. Please note that I obtained 326 in pol.sci (138+188), which clearly shows my strength (paper 2) & weakness (paper 1). For paper 1, please do not regard my method as final. I would suggest you ask @swamy_me for help in this section.

For paper 1

I could not prepare as well as I wanted to, because of the lack of time (started reading thinkers & thought only after UPSC Preliminary Examination). I read & re-read OP Gauba for the concepts like justice, equality, hegemony, rights, ideology etc. Even though “ideologies” part is good in gauba, I’d suggest you go for Andrew Heywood’s ideologies (take a photocopy if you find the book expensive). I’ve always found Indian political thought confusing for the most part, even in VR Mehta. For thought & thinkers, I mainly depended on Cosmos book-hives publication (vol. 1) and printed notes from various sources provided by my teacher balalatha madam. I also depended on the internet for some thinkers like gramsci & arendt. (Unfortunately, none of the major thinkers I prepared were asked in the mains!)

As far as Indian nationalism is concerned, I stuck to Bipan Chandra & spectrum’s history of modern India. IGNOU material is ok, but I never got time to read the same. Also, I combined the preparation for certain topics like radical humanism w/ MN Roy, dalit perspective with Ambedkar etc. which I believe helped me save time.You can depend on DD Basu & Fadia for Indian constitution & politics. But fadia is bit outdated with regard to examples, so better find out recent ones for political issues if possible. For the various national commissions (nhrc/sc/st/women etc), I totally depended on their respective websites.
I went through the recent election analyses in The Hindu (by Yogendra Yadav’s team) for understanding election trends.

Paper 2

Comparative politics was & remains a puzzle to me. So I read only Cosmos book-hives (vol. 3) for the topic. But some seniors in the field recommended Ronald chilkote for this topic, whose book I could never lay my hands on. For IR theories (power, natl security, approaches to IR study etc.), Vinay Kumar Malhotra’s International relations is really good. For some topics like globalization, international economic order etc., it’s better to add contemporary issues that you may read in periodicals & newspapers to the answer you write.

Also, try to take stands on issues like ‘do we need NAM?’ (Better to stick to “yes” with reasons), UN/IMF/World bank reforms etc. during the days of preparation itself. Write these down in point form along with substantiating reasons, so that it’s easier to revise before the mains. Tapan biswal’s book is good for the international economy part, but again I’ve not read the book due to time shortage.

Use the internet to the maximum when you’re studying about international & regional organizations like UN, ASEAN, OAS, AU, EU, and SAARC etc. At the same time, understand the pros & cons of such organizations as well as intra-group relations of various countries (India’s big brother attitude to south asia, Thailand-cambodia clashes, eastern vs. western Europe etc.) & how they affect the cohesion of the groupings. For contemporary world concerns like environment, terrorism, gender issues etc. I depended on Hindu, frontline & Civil Service Times.

For India & the world part, I depend on wikipedia, world focus, Hindu & min. of external affairs website. I prepared my own notes for these topics. Another thing I did was to note the + & - of our relations with every major country. For this I took a paper, divided it into two columns, one for the +ves & the other for –ves. Jot down points you pick up from the newspaper daily in the columns, & you’ll get a very good idea of our bilateral ties.

Try to read the Nov-Dec annual issue of world focus cover to cover as it covers bilateral ties with almost all important nations. Also understand the background dynamics of issues so that you may be able to voice clear opinions. Eg: india’s role in a post-taliban Afghanistan & its ties with US & Pakistan in this perspective, India vs China in Africa, india’s stand vis-à-vis iran’s nuclear option etc.

PS – I don’t think international relations can be mastered in a short span of time. So better start reading current affairs magazines & the Hindu as early as possible to build up your base. There is no better source for IR than the internet, but only if you have regular access to it.


The list of books I followed:

1. Political theory - O P Gauba
2. International relations – V K Malhotra
3. Political thought & theory - Printed notes from several sources provided by my teacher, Balalatha madam
4. Constitution by D.D. Basu
5. Indian govt & politics by Fadia
6. Indian political thought by V.R.Mehta
7. India’s struggle for independence by Bipan Chandra (not a must)
8. Modern Indian history by Spectrum
9. Cosmos book hives vol.1 & vol.3
10. World focus magazine
11. Civil service times
12. Hindu & frontline
13. International & bilateral issues - Self-made notes from Internet, M.o.External Affairs website & the Hindu.

Regards & all the best,
Abhiram.

[jackSparrow]

@abhiram Enlightening! Thanks a million.
@swamy_me Hello Swamy, could you please share your strategy too?

[teethonus]

@abhiram
how to handle questions in paper 1 especially question1 involving abstract statements...i mean are they manageable after doin thinkers n political theory?? how to go about them
ex///comment
power flows throughout the system like blood in the capillaries of our body.....FOCAULT

[sukrit.85]

hii, abhiram...
first of all congrats 4 ur achievement and thnks 4 such a useful post....I just want a small favour from your side. Can you please give the contact n.o. and address of Miss Balalatha madam for political science. I will be in chennai from next week and would want 2 get some guidance from her. Thanks in advance

[manalika]

Hello Abhiram,
I had decided on political science and sociology as my optionals for the mains exam. i was going through marks of recommended candidates of previous years and found that political science naturally seems to yield less scores for everyone compared to other subjects like pubad, psychology and geography all of which appeared highly scoring. what made you decide on it despite this phenomena, instead of something like public administration?
Thanks,
Manalika

[abhiramatl]

Hello Abhiram,
I had decided on political science and sociology as my optionals for the mains exam. i was going through marks of recommended candidates of previous years and found that political science naturally seems to yield less scores for everyone compared to other subjects like pubad, psychology and geography all of which appeared highly scoring. what made you decide on it despite this phenomena, instead of something like public administration?
Thanks,
Manalika

It was mainly my interest in international affairs that prompted me to take pol.sci as 2nd optional. Pubad was too dry for me and i wanted something lively to study, which i found in IR. But, yes, its true that comparatively less number of candidates clear with pol.sci. optional.

[niharika]

Hi Abhiram,

Congratulations on your splendid success!

Am really thankful to you for starting this thread for political science aspirants...good guidance in this optional from successful candidates is really hard to come by.

It would be really beneficial for people like us ,who too aspire to replicate your success in future, to learn from your study strategies in this optional.

please if you could write a detailed blog on political science preparation vis-a-vis:

1. Details regarding the books you studied for each topic of the syllabus- both paper 1 & 2.

2. The newspapers, magazines, periodicals, websites and blogs you referred.

3. The strategy for answer writing- some tips and pointers.

4. Notemaking for various topics- how to go about it.

5. Time taken to cover the optional.

6. If you took any guidance with respect to classroom programmes and test series pease do let us know which ones to trust in this maze!

7. Any other useful guidance wrt the subject.

It would be really kind of you to help me and many other aspirants in search of genuine assistance.

Thank you.