POLITICS IN INDIA
Course Details
Course Title: Politics in India
Course Code PSC81DC00204 Credits 4
L+T+P 3+1+0 Course Duration One Semester
Semester I (Odd) Contact Hours 45 (L) + 15 (T) Hours
Course type Discipline Based Core Course
Nature of Theory/practical
course
Special nature Constitutional, democratic, Indian cultural Values, Indian knowledge
/category of the system
course
Methods of Lecture, Tutorials, Group discussion; self-studies, seminar, presentation
Content students, individuals and groups drills, group and individuals field based
Interaction assignments followed by workshops and seminar presentation
Assessment and 30% - Continuous Internal Assessment (Formative in nature but
Evaluation also contributing to the final grades)
70% - End Term External Examination (University Examination)
Course Objectives
• To provide students a broader knowledge of Indian politics and its impact on
political process.
• To help students to know about the Indian constitution, process of legislative and
functioning of Indian democracy.
• To help the students to develop analytical perspective on issues in Indian politics.
• To acquaint the students with the emerging developments on electoral politics in
India.
Learning Outcomes
After completion of the course the students should be able to:
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Understand various approaches to the study Indian politics.
Know the background of the working of Indian politics and constitution.
Gain knowledge on actual functioning of Indian politics and constitution.
Understand the issues that influence Indian politics vice-versa.
Course Contents
UNIT I: UNDERSTANDING INDIAN POLITICS
Historical and Legal Institutional
Marxist
Gandhian
UNIT II: FOUNDATIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL PHILOSOPHY:
Constituent Assembly: formation and function
Preamble and philosophy of Indian constitution
UNIT III: UNION EXECUTIVE:
President, vice president and Prime minister: Function and Role
Governor: Role and Controversy
UNIT IV: UNION LEGISLATION:
Parliament: function and role in Indian politics
Committee System
UNIT V: JUDICIARY:
Supreme court and high court: power and function
Judicial activism
Judicial review
UNIT VI: ISSUES IN INDIAN POLITICS
Caste
Religion
Gender
Social justice
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UNIT VII: ELECTORAL SYSTEM
Election commission: function and reform in electoral politics
Political party
UNIT VIII: FEDERALISM IN INDIA:
Theories of Federalism and Federal Processes
Patterns and determinants of Indian federalism
Content Interaction Plan:
Lecture cum
Discussion
Units
(Each session of
1 Hour)
1-3 Approaches
Historical and Legal Institutional
Marxist
Gandhian
4-7 Constituent Assembly: formation and function
Preamble and philosophy of Indian constitution
8-12 President, vice president and Prime minister: Function and
Role
Governor: Role and Controversy
13-18 Parliament: function and role in Indian politics
Committee System
19-26 Issues in Indian Politics
Caste
Class
Religion
Gender
Tribes
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27-31 Supreme court and high court: power and function
Judicial activism
Judicial review
32-39 Election commission: function and reform in electoral politics
Political party
40-45 .Theories of Federalism and Federal Processes.
Patterns and determinants of Indian federalism
Essential Readings:
Hasan, Zoya. (2018). Agitation to Legislation: Negotiating Equity and Justice in India.
New Delhi: OUP.
Palshikar, Suhas. (2017). Indian Democracy. New Delhi: OUP.
Jayal, Niraja Gopal et al. (Eds.) (2011). The oxford companion to politics in India. New
Delhi: OUP.
Kohli, Atul. (2007). State and development. Cambridge: CUP.
Mitra, Subrta K. (2011). Politics in India: structure, process and policy. London, New
York: Routledge.
Ray, Raka, & Katzenstein, Mary Fainsod. (2005). Social movements in India: poverty,
power and politics. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.
Agarwal, Bina. (Ed.). (1988). Structures of patriarchy: state, community and household in
modernizing Asia. New Delhi: Kali for Women.
Desai, A.R. (Ed.).(1974). Peasant struggles in India. New Delhi: OUP.
Desai, A.R.( Ed.). (1986). Agrarian struggles in India. New Delhi: OUP.
Kochanek, S., & Hardgrave, Robert L. (2008). India: government and politics in a
developing nation, 7th Edition. USA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Kohli, Atul. (1991). India’s democracy: An analysis of changing state-society relations.
New Delhi: Orient Longman.
Kohli, Atul. (2009). Democracy and development: Essays on state, society, and economy.
New Delhi: OUP.
Kohli, Atul. (Ed.). (2009). The success of India’s democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Ganguli, Sumit, Diamond, Larry, Plattner, Marc (Ed.). (2007). The State of India’s
Democracy. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.
Fadia, B.L. (2015 edition). Indian Government and Politics (Agra: Sahitya Bhavan
Publications).
Nayar, Baldev Raj. (Ed.). (2007). Globalization and politics in India. New Delhi: OUP.
Bardhan. Pranab. (1998). The political economy of development in India. New Delhi:
OUP.
Brass, Paul R. (1999). The politics in India since independence. New Delhi: CUP
(reprinted by Foundation Book). New Delhi: 1999.
Kothari, Rajni. (1970, 1985). Politics in India. Delhi: Orient Longman.
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Rudolph, Lloyd I., & Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber. (2008). Explaining Indian democracy: a
fifty year perspective 1950-2006, Vol. I-III. Delhi: OUP.
Additional Readings:
Diwakar, Rekha. (2017). Party System in India. New Delhi: OUP.
Alam, Javeed. (2004, 2006). Who wants democracy?. New Delhi: Orient Longman.
Bhargava, Rajeev. (Ed.) (2006). Secularism and its critics. New Delhi: OUP.
Brass, Paul R. (1974). Language, religion and politics in north India, London: CUP.
Chatterjee, Partha. (2004). The politics of the governed: reflections on popular politics in
most of the world. Delhi: Permanent.
Chatterjee, Partha. (Ed.) (1997, 2004). State and politics in India. New Delhi: OUP.
DeSouza, Peter Ronald (Ed.). (2000). Contemporary India – transitions. New Delhi:
Fundacao Oriente and Sage.
DeSouza, Peter Ronald, & Sridharan, E. (Eds.). (2006). India’s political parties. New
Delhi: 2006.
Dube, Abhay Kumar. (Ed.). (2003). Rajniti ki kitab, rajni kothari ka krititva. Delhi: Vani.
Dube, Abhay Kumar. (Ed.). (2005) Bharat ka Bhumandalikaran. Delhi: Vani.
Frankel, Francine, & Rao, M.S.A. (Eds.). (1989). Dominance and state power in India:
decline of a social order, volume I and II. New Delhi: OUP.
Ganguly, Sumit, Diamond, Larry, & Plattner, Marc F. (2008). The state of India’s
democracy, New Delhi: OUP.
Hansen, Thomas, & Jaffrelot, Christophe (Eds.). The BJP and the Compulsions of Politics
in India. New Delhi: OUP.
Hasan, Zoya (Ed.). (2000). Politics and the State in India. New Delhi: Sage.
Jaffrelot, Christophe (1996). The Hindu nationalist movement and Indian politics: 1925 to
the 1990s. New Delhi: Penguin.
Jayal, Niraja Gopal. (Ed.) (2001). Democracy in India. New Delhi: OUP.
Kanungo, Pralay (2004). Rss’s tryst with politics: from Hedgewar to Sudarshan. Manohar,
Delhi, 2004.
Kaviraj, Sudipta. (Ed.). (1997). Politics in India. New Delhi: OUP.
Kothari, Rajni. (2005). Bharat Mein Rajniti: Kal aur Aaj, Hindi presentation by Abhay
Kumar Dube. Delhi: Vaani, Delhi.
Menon, Nivedita, & Nigam, Aditya. (2001). Power and contestation in India: India since
1989. New Delhi: Orient Longman.
Menon, Nivedita. (Ed.). (2001). Gender and politics in India. New Delhi: OUP.
Mohanty, Manoranjan. (Ed.). (2001). Caste, class and gender. New Delhi: Sage.
Pai, Sudha. (2002). Dalit assertion and the unfinished democratic revolution: the bahujan
samaj party in uttar Pradesh. (New Delhi: Sage).
Rudolph, Lloyd I., & Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber. (1987). In pursuit of lakshmi, the
political economy of the Indian state. New Delhi: Orient Longman.
Sathyamurthy, T.V. (Ed.). (1998). Region, religion, caste, gender and culture in India.
New Delhi: OUP.
Singh, M.P., & Saxena, Rekha. (2003). India at the polls: Parliamentary elections in a
federal phase. Delhi: Orient Longman.
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Singh, Ujjwal Kumar. (2004). Institutions and democratic governance: a study of the
election commission and electoral governance in India. New Delhi: Nehru Memorial
Museum and Library (NMML).
Vanaik, Achin. (1990). The painful transition: bourgeois democracy in India. London:
Verso.
Vora, Rajendra, & Palshikar, Suhas (Eds.). (2004). Indian democracy, meanings and
practices. New Delhi: Sage.
Zavos, John, Hansen, Blom, Thomas, & Jaffrelot, Christophe. (Eds.). ( ). Hindu
nationalism and Indian politics: an omnibus. New Delhi: OUP.
Khilnani, Sunil. (1999). The Idea of India. New York: Macmillan Press.
Panagariya, Arvind. (2008). India: The Emerging Giant. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Austin, Granville. (2003). Working a Democratic Constitution: A History of the
Indian Experience. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Chhibber, Pradeep K., and Ken Kollman. (2004). The Formation of National Party
Systems: Federalism and Party Competition in Canada, Great Britain, India, and
the United States. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kothari, Rajni. (2005). Rethinking Democracy. Delhi: Orient Longman.
• Mehta, Pratap Bhanu. (2003). Burden of Democracy. Delhi: Penguin India.
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