PSIR Optional Question Paper 2013

The PSIR Optional Question Paper 2013 for the UPSC Civil Services Mains examination is reproduced below in full: Political Science and International Relations Paper-I and Paper-II, Section A and Section B, with the marks for every question as UPSC printed them. Each question links to its solved model answer, and after the papers you will find a syllabus-wise mapping of the 2013 questions, the thinkers who were tested and what the paper signals for your preparation. For every other year and the full topic-wise list, see PSIR Optional question papers (year-wise and topic-wise).

Want the answers too? All 56 questions of the 2013 paper are solved in LotusArise PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions — tap Model answer next to any question below to open it.

PSIR Optional Question Paper-I (2013)

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Time allowed: three hours · Maximum marks: 250 · Eight questions in two sections; Question 1 and Question 5 are compulsory, and three more are to be attempted with at least one from each section.

Section ‘A’: Political Theory and Indian Politics

1. Comment on the following in approximately 150 words each: 10×5=50
   (a) “Personal is political” 10 · Model answer
   (b) “Original position” 10 · Model answer
   (c) “Covenants without swords are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all” (Hobbes) 10 · Model answer
   (d) Sri Aurobindo’s “idea of freedom” 10 · Model answer
   (e) Syed Ahmed Khan as a modernizer 10 · Model answer
2. (a) Discuss the communitarian critique of liberalism. 20 · Model answer
   (b) Examine Ambedkar’s critique of Marxism. 15 · Model answer
   (c) Explain, as per Gramsci, the distinction between hegemony and domination. 15 · Model answer
3. (a) Analyse the relationship between natural rights and human rights. 20 · Model answer
   (b) Examine the significance of Dharma in ancient Indian political thought. 15 · Model answer
   (c) Discuss in what sense Marx’s understanding of state can be considered as materialistic. 15 · Model answer
4. (a) Explain Berlin’s notion of value pluralism. 20 · Model answer
   (b) Analyse, as per Kautilya, the Saptanga theory of the state. 15 · Model answer
   (c) Comment on the assertion of Laslett that Filmer and not Hobbes was the main antagonist of Locke. 15 · Model answer

Section ‘B’: Indian Government and Politics

5. Comment on the following in approximately 150 words each: 10×5=50
   (a) Marxist understanding of India’s freedom movement 10 · Model answer
   (b) Significance of the Preamble 10 · Model answer
   (c) Decline of Indian Parliament 10 · Model answer
   (d) Gandhian perspective of development and its contemporary relevance 10 · Model answer
   (e) Compare and contrast Chipko Movement with Narmada Bachao Andolan 10 · Model answer
6. (a) Explain the phenomenon of ethnic politics in India in recent times. 20 · Model answer
   (b) Analyse the significance of Article 32 of the Indian Constitution. 15 · Model answer
   (c) Examine the role of Supreme Court as the final interpreter of the Indian Constitution. 15 · Model answer
7. (a) “Cooperative federalism produces a strong central, or general government, yet it does not necessarily result in weak provincial governments that are largely administrative agencies for central policies. Indian federation has demonstrated this.” (Granville Austin) Examine the uniqueness of Indian federalism in the light of the above statement. 20 · Model answer
   (b) Explain to what extent the concept of “one-party dominance” (W.H. Morris-Jones) model is relevant in Indian politics today. 15 · Model answer
   (c) Analyse the position of the Prime Minister of India in a coalition regime. 15 · Model answer
8. (a) Examine the significance of the verdicts of the Supreme Court in the Golaknath and Keshavananda Bharati cases for an understanding of the scope of Article 368 in regard to Fundamental Rights. 20 · Model answer
   (b) Point out and comment on the historic importance of the document ‘Towards Equality (1974)’, for women’s movement in India. 15 · Model answer
   (c) Examine the changing structure of Panchayati Raj institutions with special reference to the 73rd Constitution Amendment Act. 15 · Model answer

PSIR Optional Question Paper-II (2013)

Time allowed: three hours · Maximum marks: 250 · Eight questions in two sections; Question 1 and Question 5 are compulsory, and three more are to be attempted with at least one from each section.

Section ‘A’: Comparative Politics and International Relations

1. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
   (a) Identify the elements of change in India’s foreign policy. 10 · Model answer
   (b) Sketch the leadership role of India in WTO negotiations. 10 · Model answer
   (c) Examine the recent developments in India-Japan relationship. 10 · Model answer
   (d) Bring out the objectives of India seeking permanent seat in Security Council. 10 · Model answer
   (e) Is India’s Nuclear doctrine a viable one? 10 · Model answer
2. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each: 20+15+15=50
   (a) Compare and contrast social movements in advanced industrial and developing societies. 20 · Model answer
   (b) Give reasons for Regionalisation of world politics. 15 · Model answer
   (c) Compare and contrast Sino-India approaches to global Environmental concerns. 15 · Model answer
3. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each: 20+15+15=50
   (a) What roles do norms, taboos and epistemic communities play in the context of nuclear proliferation? 20 · Model answer
   (b) Substantiate APEC as a regional economic and trade arrangement. 15 · Model answer
   (c) Identify the major changes in the International Political economy in post Cold War period. 15 · Model answer
4. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each: 20+15+15=50
   (a) Is the rise of social movement a sign of opening up of popular space in political process or decline of representative politics? Examine. 20 · Model answer
   (b) Highlight the major features of Non-alignment 2.0 document. 15 · Model answer
   (c) Identify the role and place of Gender in the global economy. 15 · Model answer

Section ‘B’: India and the World

5. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
   (a) Identify the challenges to American hegemony in post Soviet world. 10 · Model answer
   (b) What does the pace of nuclear proliferation in post Cold War suggest? 10 · Model answer
   (c) State the place of Gender Justice in global political agenda. 10 · Model answer
   (d) ‘Global commons belong to global society and requires global attention.’ Comment. 10 · Model answer
   (e) Sketch the journey of global political economy from Washington consensus to the present. 10 · Model answer
6. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each: 20+15+15=50
   (a) Examine major principles of State centric world views. 20 · Model answer
   (b) How does Marxist approach explain contemporary International Relations? 15 · Model answer
   (c) ‘National Interests are Dynamic’. Identify the dynamic nature of National Interests in the contemporary world politics with suitable examples. 15 · Model answer
7. Answer the following questions in about 200 words each: 20+15+15=50
   (a) ‘The economic content of India’s foreign trade is increasingly growing.’ Substantiate the statement with economic diplomatic engagements of India in the last decade. 20 · Model answer
   (b) Write a note on Intellectual precursors of Realism. 15 · Model answer
   (c) ‘Building ‘peace by pieces’ is the basis of functionalism.’ Elaborate. 15 · Model answer
8. Answer the following questions in about 250 words each: 20+15+15=50
   (a) ‘Transnational actors have become driving forces of global politics.’ Elaborate. 20 · Model answer
   (b) ‘A minimal State ensures maximum of Individual Liberty.’ Examine the concept of Minimal State. 15 · Model answer
   (c) ‘Collective Security and Collective Defence are the institutional and State mechanisms to sustain the domination of powers that be in International politics.’ Elaborate. 15 · Model answer

PSIR Optional 2013 Paper Analysis

Paper-I: syllabus-wise mapping

What stood out in Paper-I

• Section A was a roll-call of thinkers. Ten of its fourteen sub-parts turn on a named thinker or a thinker’s signature idea, from Rawls’s “original position” in 1(b) to Berlin’s value pluralism in 4(a) and Gramsci’s hegemony–domination distinction in 2(c).
• Indian political thought took five sub-parts. Dharma in ancient Indian thought 3(b), Kautilya’s Saptanga theory 4(b), Sri Aurobindo’s idea of freedom 1(d), Syed Ahmed Khan as a modernizer 1(e) and Ambedkar’s critique of Marxism 2(b) together carried 65 marks.
• Two questions turned on specific texts. 1(c) quotes Hobbes’s line that covenants without swords are but words, and 4(c) asks for comment on Laslett’s claim that Filmer, not Hobbes, was Locke’s real antagonist.
• Section B tested the Constitution and the judiciary closely. The Preamble 5(b), Article 32 6(b), the Supreme Court as final interpreter 6(c) and the Golaknath and Keshavananda Bharati verdicts on Article 368 in 8(a) make up four of its fourteen sub-parts.
• Quotations and documents framed Indian politics. Granville Austin on cooperative federalism anchors 7(a), Morris-Jones’s “one-party dominance” model 7(b), the ‘Towards Equality (1974)’ report 8(b), and 5(e) asks for a comparison of Chipko with the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

Paper-II: syllabus-wise mapping

What stood out in Paper-II

• Question 1 was entirely about India’s external relations. Its five parts covered elements of change in foreign policy, India’s leadership in WTO negotiations, India–Japan relations, the objectives behind the Security Council bid and the viability of the nuclear doctrine.
• Nuclear issues came up three times. India’s nuclear doctrine 1(e), the role of norms, taboos and epistemic communities in proliferation 3(a), and what the post-Cold War pace of proliferation suggests 5(b) — 40 marks in all.
• Classical IR theory filled the Section B long questions. State-centric world views 6(a), the Marxist approach 6(b), the dynamic national interest 6(c), the intellectual precursors of realism 7(b), functionalism’s ‘peace by pieces’ 7(c) and collective security versus collective defence 8(c).
• Political economy and gender were paired across sections. Changes in IPE after the Cold War 3(c), APEC 3(b) and the journey from the Washington consensus 5(e) sat alongside gender in the global economy 4(c) and gender justice on the global political agenda 5(c).
• Comparative politics was tested through social movements. 2(a) contrasts movements in advanced industrial and developing societies, 4(a) asks whether their rise opens popular space or signals decline of representative politics, and 8(b) examines the minimal State.

Each question is counted once, under the syllabus unit its model answer is filed in. The marks show how much of the 400 marks set in each paper came from a unit; a candidate attempts five questions worth 250.

Thinkers and scholars in the PSIR 2013 paper

Solved Answers to the PSIR 2013 Paper

Preparing the syllabus from scratch? Start with the PSIR Optional hub for notes, the official PSIR syllabus and unit-wise PYQs.

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