Concept of Power: PSIR Optional PYQs (Topic-wise)

Concept of Power: Hegemony, Ideology and Legitimacy (PSIR PYQs)

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1. Distinguish power from authority. How does reliance on authority affect the nature of power? (1996)
2. Comment: Politics as a power concept. (2008)
3. Comment: “Power flows throughout the system like blood in the capillaries of our body.” (Foucault) (2010)
4. Distinguish between the concepts of legitimacy and hegemony. (2012)
5. Examine the conditions that are required for the maintenance of legitimacy in modern societies. (2014)
6. Distinguish between Power and Authority. (2015)
7. Discuss the ‘crisis of legitimacy’ in capitalist societies. (Habermas) (2015)
8. Explain the relationship between power, authority and legitimacy. (2018)
9. Examine the nature and meaning of power. (2020)
10. Comment in about 150 words: Tools of legitimation of the State. (2021)
11. Write on the Bases of Power. (2022)
12. Comment on Foucault’s concept of power. (2023)
13. Linkage between Power and Hegemony. (2024)
14. Legitimacy adds positive value to political authority and obligation. Discuss. (2024)
15. Explain the Macpherson’s view on power. (2025)
16. Do you think that legitimacy acquired by consent or manufactured by indoctrination is an essential element in maintenance of political rule? Justify your answer with relevant examples. (2025)
17. Write on the following in about 150 words: Legitimacy is always a ‘social construct’. (2026) [10 marks]

Theories of Power and Hegemony: Pareto, Mosca, Mitchels

1. Comment: Views of Lenin, Mitchels and Duverger on political parties. (1999)

Theories of Power and Hegemony: C. Wright Mills, Weber

1. Comment: “In so far as national events are decided, the ‘power elite’ are those who decide them.” (2002)
2. Attempt a comparative examination of the view of Marx and Weber on the ‘Power’. (2011)

Theories of Power and Hegemony: Marxist, Gramsci, Hannah Arendt

1. Discuss the political philosophy of Hannah Arendt. (2003)
2. Is Gramsci a theoretician of super-structures? Give reasons in support of your answer. (2004)
3. Critically examine Gramsci’s concept of Hegemony. (2008)
4. Comment on Hannah Arendt’s conception of the ‘political’. (150 words) (2012)
5. Explain, as per Gramsci, the distinction between hegemony and domination. (2012)
6. Comment in 150 words: “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) (2014)
7. Discuss Gramsci’ s notion of ‘organic intellectuals’ (2015)
8. Comment: Gramsci’s concept of Hegemony. (2016)
9. Discuss Hannah Arendt’s analysis of the role of ideology in modern totalitarian regimes. (2016)
10. According to Gramsci, ‘hegemony is primarily based on the organisation of consent’. Comment. (2019)