Political Science (317) | Set A1 • Code 72/SS/317/A1

Ans. (B) Aristotle
Curricular Justification: Aristotle is regarded as the Father of Political Science because he applied empirical observation and comparative analysis to examine 158 Greek city-state constitutions in his seminal work, The Politics, declaring politics as the master science.

Ans. (D) It is permanent in nature.
Justification: The State is permanent, whereas the Government is temporary. Governments change frequently through periodic democratic elections, resignations, or constitutional processes, while the State persists continuously.

Ans. (B) Marxism
Justification: In the Communist Manifesto (1848), Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels asserted that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" between the exploiting bourgeoisie and the exploited proletariat.

Ans. (C) Mahatma Gandhi
Justification: Mahatma Gandhi propounded Trusteeship, an economic concept under which wealthy capitalists hold wealth not as absolute owners, but as moral trustees for the welfare of society and the impoverished masses.

Ans. (A) Individual freedom and limited role of the State
Justification: Classical liberalism (advocated by John Locke, Adam Smith, and J.S. Mill) emphasizes individual liberty, natural rights, free-market enterprise, and a "laissez-faire" (minimal/night-watchman) state.

Ans. (A) Socialist, Secular, and Integrity
Justification: The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976 amended the Preamble to alter the characterisation from "Sovereign Democratic Republic" to "Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic" and added "and integrity" after "unity of the Nation".

Ans. (B) Right to Property
Justification: The 44th Amendment Act, 1978 deleted the Right to Property from Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31, making it a legal/constitutional right under Article 300A in Part XII of the Constitution.

Ans. (B) 6 freedoms
Justification: Article 19 originally had seven freedoms. After the deletion of the right to acquire, hold, and dispose of property [19(1)(f)], six freedoms remain: speech and expression, peaceful assembly, forming associations/unions, free movement, residence anywhere in India, and practicing any profession/trade.

Ans. (B) Organisation of Village Panchayats (Article 40)
Justification: Article 40 directs the State to organise village panchayats and endow them with powers of self-government, fulfilling Gandhi's vision of 'Gram Swaraj'.

Ans. (B) Elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of State Legislative Assemblies
Justification: Under Article 54, nominated members of Parliament and members of State Legislative Councils (Vidhan Parishad) do not vote in the presidential election.

Ans. (C) 12 members
Justification: Under Article 80 of the Constitution, out of the maximum strength of 250 in the Rajya Sabha, 12 members are nominated by the President having special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art, and social service.

Ans. (A) Habeas Corpus
Justification: Habeas Corpus (literally "to have the body") is the bulwark of personal liberty. It directs the detaining authority to produce the arrested individual before the court to examine the legal validity of the detention.

Ans. (B) 61st Amendment
Justification: The 61st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988 (which came into force in 1989) amended Article 326 of the Constitution to lower the minimum voting age for Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly elections from 21 to 18 years.

Ans. (C) Education
Justification: Education was transferred from the State List to the Concurrent List by the 42nd Amendment Act in 1976. Defense and Foreign Affairs belong to the Union List, while Police belongs to the State List.

Ans. (B) Belgrade
Justification: The first summit conference of NAM was held in Belgrade (Yugoslavia) in September 1961 under the joint leadership of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, President Josip Broz Tito, and President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Ans. (B) 1954
Justification: The Panchsheel agreement was signed on 29 April 1954 between Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai regarding trade and intercourse between the Tibet region of China and India.

Ans. (B) Germany
Justification: The five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council holding veto powers under the UN Charter are the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China. Germany is a non-permanent candidate member (part of the G4 along with India, Japan, and Brazil).

Ans. (B) 2005
Justification: The historic Right to Information Act came into force on 12 October 2005, guaranteeing citizens legal access to government records and administrative transparency.

Ans. (A) District Collector / District Magistrate
Justification: The District Collector (an IAS officer) heads the district administration, coordinating revenue collection, law and order (as District Magistrate), and rural development programmes.

Ans. (B) Justice P.N. Bhagwati
Justification: Justice P.N. Bhagwati (along with Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer) relaxed the traditional rule of locus standi in the late 1970s and 1980s, enabling any public-spirited citizen to approach the court on behalf of disadvantaged citizens.

(a) The State possesses the supreme power to command obedience, known as Sovereignty (संप्रभुता).
(b) While the state is permanent, the Government (सरकार) is temporary and changes periodically.

(a) Communist Society (or Communism / साम्यवाद).
(b) Satyagraha (सत्याग्रह — holding onto truth through non-violent resistance).

(a) Article 32 (Right to Constitutional Remedies).
(b) Article 226 (Writ jurisdiction of the High Courts).

(a) National Emergency is proclaimed under Article 352.
(b) President's Rule in a State is imposed under Article 356.

(a) India is described as a "Union of States" (राज्यों का संघ).
(b) No, Indian States do not have the right to secede (the Indian Union is indestructible).

(a) The minimum quorum required is one-tenth (1/10th) of the total membership (Article 100).
(b) The maximum interval permitted between two sessions is six (6) months (Article 85).

(a) McMahon Line (मैकमोहन रेखा — agreed at the 1914 Simla Convention).
(b) Line of Control (LoC) (नियंत्रण रेखा).

(a) The de jure (constitutional head) is the President of India (भारत के राष्ट्रपति).
(b) The de facto (real executive head) is the Prime Minister of India (भारत के प्रधानमंत्री).

(a) Article 324.
(b) Proportional Representation by means of Single Transferable Vote (STV).

(a) The 73rd Constitutional Amendment accords constitutional status to Panchayati Raj Institutions (Rural Local Government).
(b) The 74th Constitutional Amendment accords constitutional status to Municipalities / Urban Local Bodies (Nagarpalikas).

(a) The Vice-President of India (Article 64).
(b) The Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Article 118[4]).

(a) A Supreme Court judge serves until attaining the age of 65 years (Article 124[2]).
(b) A High Court judge serves until attaining the age of 62 years (Article 217[1]).

1. Scope and Origin: Society is prior to the State and has a much broader scope encompassing all social, economic, cultural, and religious relationships. The State is a political association deliberately organized to maintain law and order.
2. Coercive Power & Territory: The State possesses sovereign coercive power to enforce laws and punish disobedience, and requires a strictly defined territory. Society has no coercive police power; it functions through voluntary customs, moral codes, and social norms without fixed territorial boundaries.

1. Absoluteness: Sovereignty is supreme and legally unlimited. There is no authority higher than the sovereign State within its borders, nor is it legally subordinate to any outside power.
2. Indivisibility and Permanence: Sovereignty cannot be divided among different bodies within the State; divided sovereignty is a contradiction in terms. Moreover, it lasts as long as the State itself survives, unaffected by changes of government.

1. Political Executive: Consists of elected representatives such as the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and Council of Ministers. They hold office for a fixed term (generally 5 years) dependent on legislative majority, formulate broad policies, and are politically accountable.
2. Permanent Executive (Civil Services): Consists of politically neutral, career bureaucrats recruited through competitive examinations (such as UPSC). They serve continuously until retirement age, providing administrative expertise and executing policies irrespective of which party comes to power.

1. Justiciability: Fundamental Rights (Part III) are legally justiciable and enforceable by courts under Articles 32 and 226. Directive Principles (Part IV) are non-justiciable (Article 37) and cannot be enforced by judicial mandamus against the State.
2. Nature and Objective: Fundamental Rights are largely negative injunctions preventing the State from encroaching upon individual civil and political liberties. Directive Principles are positive socioeconomic guidelines aimed at establishing a welfare state.

Universal Adult Franchise means that every citizen of India who has attained the age of 18 years has the constitutional right to vote in elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, without any discrimination based on caste, race, religion, sex, literacy, or wealth (Article 326).
Significance: It establishes political equality, promotes inclusive popular sovereignty, and ensures democratic legitimacy of elected governments.

1. Conduct of Examinations: Conducting nationwide competitive examinations for recruitment to the All-India Services (IAS, IPS, IFS) and Central Civil Services (Group A and Group B).
2. Advisory Role: Advising the Government on matters relating to recruitment methods, promotions, transfers, and disciplinary actions concerning civil servants.

1. Regional Economic Disparities: Uneven infrastructural and economic development across states generates deep feelings of economic neglect and grievance among less-developed populations.
2. Linguistic and Cultural Identities: Intense attachment to regional languages, customs, and sub-national ethnic identities, often politicized by regional political parties demanding greater autonomy or statehood.

1. Preservation of Strategic Autonomy: Remaining non-aligned with rival Cold War military alliances (NATO / Warsaw Pact) to decide foreign policy issues independently on their merits.
2. Opposition to Colonialism & Apartheid: Actively championing decolonization, opposing racial discrimination (apartheid), and advocating international disarmament and global peace.

The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 is termed a "Mini-Constitution" because it brought extensive and comprehensive changes to almost every part of the Indian Constitution, including amending the Preamble, adding Part IV-A (Fundamental Duties), giving primacy to Directive Principles over certain Fundamental Rights, establishing administrative tribunals (Part XIV-A), and shifting key subjects like education to the Concurrent List.

1. Appointment of Chief Minister in a Hung Assembly: When no single political party or coalition secures a clear majority, the Governor exercises personal discretion to invite the leader most likely to prove majority support on the floor.
2. Reservation of Bills & Reporting on Constitutional Machinery: Reserving certain state bills for the consideration and assent of the President (Article 200), and sending a confidential report to the President recommending President’s Rule under Article 356.

A Money Bill deals strictly with financial matters such as imposition, abolition, remission, alteration, or regulation of taxes, or borrowing of money by the Union Government.
Supremacy: Under Article 109, a Money Bill can only originate in the Lok Sabha on the prior recommendation of the President. The Rajya Sabha has no power to reject or amend it; it can only suggest recommendations and must return the bill within 14 days, failing which the bill is deemed passed.

1. Inalienable Rights of Life, Liberty, and Property: John Locke posited that individuals possess innate, pre-political natural rights in the State of Nature—namely, the Right to Life, the Right to Liberty, and the Right to Property (Estate).
2. Government as a Fiduciary Trust: The social contract creates government solely to safeguard these natural rights. Political authority is a trust; if the government infringes on these rights, citizens have the moral right to alter or overthrow it.
3. Foundation of Limited Constitutional Government: Locke's formulation laid the philosophical cornerstone for modern constitutionalism, rule of law, and bill of rights across western democratic constitutions.

1. Composition (Article 54): Consists exclusively of elected members of both Houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) and elected members of State Legislative Assemblies (including the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Puducherry).
2. Value of Votes: To secure uniformity between different states and parity between the States and the Union, vote values are calculated mathematically: an MLA's vote reflects the state's population divided by elected MLA seats, while an MP's vote equals total MLA vote values divided by total elected MPs.
3. Method of Election (Article 55): The election is conducted via secret ballot in accordance with the system of Proportional Representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote (STV), requiring the winning candidate to achieve a clear electoral quota.

1. Meaning: Judicial Review is the constitutional power of the Supreme Court (Article 32 & 136) and High Courts (Article 226) to examine the constitutional validity of legislative enactments and executive orders.
2. Doctrine of Ultra Vires: If any law or administrative order violates any provision of the Constitution or infringes Fundamental Rights, the judiciary declares it null, void, and ultra vires (Article 13).
3. Preserving Basic Structure: As laid down in the landmark Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), judicial review serves as the essential bulwark protecting the 'Basic Structure' of the Constitution and maintaining the federal balance between the Union and the States.

1. Communalism and Identity Politics: The mobilization of voters on narrow religious lines and the exploitation of sectarian sentiments for electoral vote-banks erode communal harmony and tolerance.
2. Rise of Religious Fundamentalism & Intolerance: Extremist rhetoric, hate speech, and incidents of communal riots create mutual distrust and insecurity among minority communities.
3. Politicization of Religious Issues: The intrusion of religious disputes into political platforms and disputes over cultural symbols distract from substantive socioeconomic developmental priorities.

1. The Five Principles: (i) Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; (ii) Mutual non-aggression; (iii) Mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs; (iv) Equality and mutual benefit; and (v) Peaceful coexistence.
2. Global Moral Framework: Adopted at the Bandung Conference (1955) and embedded in the UN General Assembly declarations, Panchsheel provided developing nations an ethical paradigm free from superpower hegemony.
3. Contemporary Relevance: In today’s multipolar world marred by geopolitical tensions, trade wars, and border disputes, these principles remain vital for multilateral diplomacy, global dispute resolution, and peaceful international coexistence.

1. Three-Tier Structure & Gram Sabha: Mandated a standardized three-tier system in all states with populations over 20 lakhs: Gram Panchayat (village level), Panchayat Samiti (intermediate/block level), and Zila Parishad (district level), with the Gram Sabha as the foundation of direct democracy.
2. Mandatory Women Reservation: Article 243D mandates that not less than one-third (33%) of the total seats and chairperson positions at all levels must be reserved for women (expanded to 50% in many states).
3. Fixed Tenure & Independent Commissions: Provides a mandatory 5-year tenure with fresh elections conducted within 6 months of dissolution, oversaw by an independent State Election Commission, alongside a State Finance Commission to ensure financial devolution.