PSIR 4 IAS

Section A Party System in India is neither western nor indigenous. Explain. In what respect is the new social movement new in nature? Discuss. Do you agree that the UN has failed to contain transnational terrorism? Elaborate your answer with examples. The Feminist approach to international politics is biased. Comment Ukraine crisis is a product of power politics and geo-politics. Comment Despite so many agreed areas of cooperation, innumerable institutional mechanisms and a permanent secretariat, SAARC has not taken off as a meaningful regional grouping. Discuss Critically evaluate the approaches of global south towards addressing environment concerns. Critically assess the changing nature of the concept of national security. Argue a case for UN reform in the context of changing global milieu. Whow was Mr. X in international politics? Elaborate his approach to foreign policy. Morton A Kaplan's system theory is contrary to the fundamental precepts of the system approach. Comment. Ho...

INTRODUCTION In 2017, Observer Research Foundation (ORF) was invited as an institutional partner to the Finland-based research project Regional Challenges to Multilateralism (2017-2020), funded by the Kone Foundation.  The project’s output has been substantial, including about 50 research publications, over 30 conference presentations, and tens of popular texts with caricatures and illustrations by a professional artist. This report presents an overview and chapter-wise summary of one of our final products, the open-access book, Shedding Light on a Changing International Order: Theoretical and Empirical Challenges,[1] published by the Tampere Peace Research Institute, Finland. Background to Regional Challenges to Multilateralism This project began in 2015, when two of the project members met to discuss the global power transitions likely from two important developments – the formation of BRICS (the association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to pursue common econom...

Qn. 25. Consider: “…we believe that as a matter of principle, each member of society has an inviolability founded on justice.” (Rawls) (1999/I/4c/30) The statement about man having “an inviolability founded on justice” was made by American political philosopher John Rawls, to uphold the sanctity of human dignity, and criticise utilitarian view of justice. It is his de-ontological principle of human dignity. Utilitarians, pursue utility or the greatest good of the greatest numbers. Harvard professor and social-contract philosopher Rawls, in pursuit of social justice, propounded his ‘ A Theory of Justice ’ (1971). Here, he quotes that “ justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory, however elegant and economical, must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; like-wise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice t...

With the launch of the India Gas Exchange (IGX) on 15 June 2020, will industry players check-off one box in their long wish list for the natural gas industry in India? Perhaps, but not without some hesitation as there are far too many uncertainties in the evolution of the exchange into a full-blown gas trading platform. IGX is an automated trading platform for imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) that will allow buyers and sellers to trade on the spot as well as the forward market across three physical hubs, Dahej and Hazira in Gujarat and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. Price discovery is through double-sided closed auctions in which members place buy or sell bids based on their customized requirement. The hope is that the IGX will generate clear signals for making rational economic decisions over consumption and investments in the currently fragmented and relatively opaque gas sector in India. Source: IGX Strong Tailwinds There are strong tailwinds that IGX can count on for growth. The...

The K. P. Oli government in Nepal has taken a drastic step of banning or blacking out all Indian private TV channels. It has, however, spared the Doordarshan, or DD, which is owned by the Indian government. The decision came as a counter to alleged ‘offensive character assassination’ by the Indian media of Nepali citizens and leaders, thereby hurting their sentiments and being disrespectful of Nepalese sovereignty. Nepalese Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Yubaraj Khatiwada, spoke about such allegations and the legal and political steps being planned against any such unpleasant presentation. The Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi also sent a diplomatic note verbale to the Ministry of External Affairs, expressing their dissent over the issue. Naturally, this entire scenario has not gone too well with the Indian government, though a formal response is still due. Nevertheless, a large section of the Indian media as well as many leaders have clearly stated that such a step ...

Qn. 24. What is the concept of justice in modern political theory? How is it related to liberty and equality? (1994/I/2/60) Justice is the existence of proper balance and is the foremost value of social institutions. Justice has been a contested concept in social and political thought. In modern political theory, concept of justice has swerved (mainly) towards ‘social justice’ (and ‘distributive justice’). Social justice is the arrangement of terms of membership of a social group. Social justice defines the framework within which applications of distributive justice arise. Distributive justice is determination of allocation of benefits and burdens within that social group. Other modern conceptions of justice include restorative justice, liberal justice and egalitarian justice. Liberty is the absence of impediments and degree of capacity to do something. Equality is equal consideration in decision-making, even-handed treatment, equality in distribution and outcome. ‘Conception of justic...

South Asia and specifically India, can learn much from the European Union (EU). This is despite the income dissimilarities. South Asia with a per capita GDP of current $1960 is low-middle income, at best. The EU with a per capita GDP of current $34,843 is high income. Also, Europe is rather blandly homogenous in religion and race, unlike diverse South Asia. But the EU is not a gift of nature. Europe has worked hard to bind itself together. Squabbling over borders and leveraging external interventions to destabilize each other, in the classic Mir Jaffar style, is no longer their dominant leitmotif, as in South Asia What is common to both regions is their rootedness in a shared history and culture, though language, food and customs differ. This is something we have not built upon sufficiently. Not surprising then that trade within South Asia is just 5% of its total global trade versus 22% in Sub Saharan Africa and 50% in East Asia (World Bank. 2018) The twenty-seven members of the EU tra...

Foreign students who come to study in India expect to feel safe and secure in the premises of their educational institutions.  Colleges and universities are expected to provide safety and care to foreign students. But recent reports of assault against two African students of Uttarakhand’s Roorkee Institute of Technology have again brought to the forefront the ugly forehead of Indian society’s longstanding underlying bias against dark-toned people. On July 15, Ibrahim Diaby Muhammed, a Nigerian, was beaten and dragged out of his college premises by more than 30 men dressed in security uniforms. He had left the college campus to buy food, but upon returning was verbally confronted by security personnel who refused to allow Ibrahim to enter. After he managed to enter, the university administration allegedly hired private security contractors to throw the student out of the campus. Benjamin Emmanuel, from Guinea, tried to shield his friend Ibrahim from the onslaught but he too was roug...

The Ladakh stand-off with China has catalysed India’s efforts to strengthen its military presence at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI). New Delhi recently moved to expedite plans for basing additional military forces, including facilities for additional warships, aircraft, missile batteries and infantry soldiers at the strategically-located Andaman Islands. Naval air stations INS Kohassa in Shibpur and INS Baaz in Campbell Bay are reportedly having their runways extended to support operations by large aircraft, even as a 10-year infrastructure development “roll-on” plan — pegged at Rs 5,000 crores — is on the fast-track. Indian strategic commentators are even urging New Delhi to permit friendly foreign navies access to the ANI’s military bases. The idea of militarising the Andaman Islands isn’t new. Since the 1980s, Indian commentators have advocated building strategic muscle at the ANI. What has often seemed like a straightforward choice for Indian policymakers, however, has never...

Qn. 23: What measurable and quantifiable criteria are available in political science to evaluate political behaviour? (1999/I/3/60) Measurable and quantifiable criteria available in political science to evaluate political behaviour can be studied under the following categories: Measuring public opinion : Informal ways of measuring public opinion include elections, interest groups and lobbying, the media, letters, messages and calls, online feedback, protests, strikes and boycotts, straw polls, exit poll, referendum, plebiscite, inter alia. These methods do not necessarily represent the public opinion as a whole. Formal ways to measure public opinion include formal quantitative methods such as sampling, interviewing, statistical analysis, scoring, scaling, mail surveys, online surveys, survey research, experiments, focus groups etc. Measuring political participation  can be done by measuring criteria such as party membership, voting registration, electoral turnout, ballot results, o...

Qn. 22: Comment: The Post-behavioural Approach.” (2016/I/1b/10) Post behavioural approach is a political methodology which evolved from behaviouralism. Post- or neo- or new behaviouralism is a macro level analysis which searched for applied knowledge and practice, in the choice of values and decisions, to precipitate necessary political and social change. It was formally announced by David Easton in his 1969 lecture at APSA. Behavioural Approach was born in America, around the world wars, to address the perceived crisis, in political theorising, of divorce from reality. Philosophy was rejected and science was adopted i.e. adoption of scientific analysis of actual political behaviour. Later behaviouralism itself was criticised for lacking relevance (Easton) and undermining political philosophy, by Wolin, Strauss, Reimer, Bay, Crick etc. Thus, post behaviouralism was born. David Easton put forward seven guidelines for post-behaviouralism: Substance is more important than technique. Socia...

Section A "...Political theory is not an escape mechanism but an arduous calling." (John Plamanetz). Comment. "All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility" (JS Mill). Comment. "Nationalism is not a mere political programme but a way of life like a religion" (Aurobindo Ghosh). Comment. "India has thrown up a form of judicial democracy that has no parallel anywhere else and has nurtured a kind of civil society that is uniquely its own" (Bhiku Parekh). Comment "Power is never the property of an individual; it belongs to a group and remains in existence only so long as the group keeps together" (Hannah Arendt). Comment. Comment on the view of socialism in the 21st century may be reborn as anti-capitalism. Examine the conditions that are required for the maintenance of legitimacy in modern societies. Evaluate the contributors of Buddhist tradition to Indian Political Thought. Explicate the conception of Justice in the criti...