CUET Political Science Syllabus 2025: A quick guide on Topics, Section-wise weightage and Preparation Tips

Units

Course Contents

Topics included in the course contents

Unit 1: Political in India Since Independence

1. Era of One-Party Dominance

• In the first three general elections, the nature of Congress's dominance at the National level
• Uneven dominance at the state level
• The coalitional nature of Congress.
• Major opposition parties

2. Nation

• Building and Its Problems
• Nehru’s approach to nation-building
• Legacy of Partition
• Challenge of ‘refugee’ resettlement
• The Kashmir problem
• Organisation and reorganisation of states
• Political conflicts over language

3. Politics of Planned Development

• Five-year plans
• Expansion of the state sector
• The rise of new economic interest

4. India's External Relations

• Nehru’s foreign policy
• The Sino-Indian War of 1962
• The Indo-Pak war of 1965 and 1971
• India’s nuclear programme and shifting alliance in world politics

5. Challenge to and Restoration of the Congress System

• Political succession after Nehru.
• Non-congressionalism and the electoral upset of 1967
• The Congress split and reconstituted
• Congress’s victory in the 1971 elections and the politics of ‘garibi hatao’.

6. Crises of the Constitutional Order

• Search for ‘committed’ bureaucracy and judiciary.
• Navnirman movement in Gujarat and the Bihar movement.
• Emergency: context, constitutional and extraconstitutional dimensions, resistance to emergency.
• 1977 elections and the formation of the Janata Party
• Rise of civil liberties organisations.

7. Regional Aspiration and Conflicts

• Rise of regional parties.
• Punjab crisis and the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.
• The Kashmir situation.
• Challenges and responses in the North East.

8. Democratic Upsurge and Coalition Politics

• Participatory upsurge in the 1990s
• Rise of the JD and the BJP
• Increasing role of regional parties and coalition politics.
• UF and NDA governments.
• Elections 2004-2019 and the UPA government, with the addition of the NDA government.

9. Recent Issues and Challenges

• Challenge of and responses to globalisation: new economic policy and its opposition.
• Rise of OBCs in North Indian politics.
• Dalit politics in the electoral and non-electoral arena.
• Challenge of communalism: Ayodhya issue.

Unit 2: Contemporary World Politics

1. Disintegration of the ‘Second World’ and the Collapse of Bipolarity

• New entities in world politics: Russia, the Balkan states and the Central Asian states
• Introduction of democratic politics and capitalism in postcommunist regimes.
• India’s relations with Russia and other postcommunist countries.

2. Alternative Centres of Economic and Political Power

• The rise of China as an economic power in the post-Mao era,
• Creation and expansion of the European Union and ASEAN
• India’s changing relations with China, Japan and South Korea.

3. South Asia in the Post-Cold War Era

• Democratisation and its reversals in Pakistan and Nepal.
• Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka
• Impact of economic globalisation on the region.
• Conflicts and efforts for peace in South Asia.
• India’s relations with its neighbours.

4. International Organisations in a Unipolar World

• Restructuring and the future of the UN.
• India’s position in the restructured UN.
• Rise of new international actors: new international economic Organisations, NGOs.
• How democratic and accountable are the new institutions of global governance?

5. Security in the Contemporary World

• Traditional concerns of security and the politics of disarmament.
• Non-traditional aspects of human security: global poverty, health and education.
• Issues of human rights and migration.

6. Environment and Natural Resources in Global Politics

• Environmental movement and the evolution of global environmental norms.
• Conflicts over traditional and common property resources.
• The rights of indigenous people.
• India’s stand in global environmental debates.

7. Globalisation and its critics

• Economic, cultural and political manifestations.
• Debates on the nature of the consequences of globalisation.
• Anti-globalisation movements.
• India is an arena of globalisation and struggles against it.

Topics

Expected number of questions

Total Marks

Weightage (%)

Recent Issues and Challenges in Indian Politics

8-9

40-45

16%-18%

Challenges to the Congress System

5

25

10%

Cold War Era

3-4

15-20

6%-8%

The End of Bipolarity

2-3

10-15

4%-6%

Alternative Centres of Power

2-3

10-15

4%-6%

Contemporary South Asia

2-3

10-15

4%-6%

Security in the Contemporary World

2-3

10-15

4%-6%

International Organizations

2-3

10-15

4%-6%

Globalisation

2-3

10-15

4%-6%