ISC Political Science Class 12 Syllabus 2020-21

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.