Political Ideologies: PSIR Optional PYQs (Topic-wise)

Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism (PSIR PYQs)

1. Comment: ‘The mode of production in material life determines the general character of the social, political and spiritual problems of life’. (Karl Marx). (1991)
2. Do you agree with. the view that ‘liberal democracy has won the historic battle of ideologies. (1992)
3. Analyse the post-Marxian developments in socialist thought. (1995)
4. Define ideology. Critically examine the “End of Ideology”. Debate (2001)
5. Do you agree with the view that liberal theories are based on ‘atomism’, whereas communitarians have a ‘social thesis’? Present your line of argument. (2005)
6. “The root of politics, according to Marx, does not lie in the state; it lies in the social conditions underlying this institution, that is, in the material conditions of life as reflected through the mode of production.” Comment. (2005)
7. Comment: “Fascism is the destruction of liberal ideas and institutions in the intere$t of those who own the instruments of economic power.” (Laski) (2008)
8. Comment: “Woman has always been man’s dependent, if not his slave; the two sexes have never shared the world in equality.” (Simone de Beauvoir) (2009)
9. Comment: “Socialism is a much used hat, whose original shape no one can define.” (C. E. M. Joad) (2009)
10. Comment: ‘Personal is political’ (2010)
11. Distinguish between liberal feminism and socialist feminism in detail. (2010)
12. Examine the debate on the ‘End of Ideology’. (2011)
13. Comment on the difference between Liberal and Radical forms of Feminism. (150 words) (2012)
14. Comment in 150 words: “Personal is political” (2013)
15. Discuss the communitarian critique of liberalism. (2013)
16. Comment on the view that socialism in the 21st century may be reborn as anti-capitalism. (2014)
17. Examine the conception of the State in the ideologies of Fascism and Marxism. (2014)
18. Discuss the key features of pre-Marxist socialist theory. (2015)
19. “The Political ideology of Globalization is Nee-Liberalism.” Comment. (2016)
20. Comment on Post-modernism (150 words) (2017)
21. Define Socialism. Discuss the salient features of Fabian Socialism. (2017)
22. Comment on Eco-feminism (150 words)  (2017)
23. Write a brief note on “The End of History debate”. (2017)
24. Comment in 150 words: “Nothing against the State, nothing over it, nothing beyond it.” – Mussolini. (2018)
25. John Locke is the father of liberalism. Explain. (2018)
26. Comment: End of Ideology debate. (2019)
27. Distinguish between liberal feminism and radical feminism. (2019)
28. Comment in 150 words Liberalism as a revolutionary idea. (2020)
29. “Political ideology is primarily concerned with the allocation and utilization of power.” Comment. (2021)
30. Factors like community, culture and nation weaken the hegemony of neo-liberalism today. Discuss. (2022)
31. Write on the “Revolution in Permanence”. (2022)
32. Fascism displays an ambivalent stance towards parliamentary democracy. Explain. (2023)
33. Write approximately 150 words on Decline of Liberalism. (2024)
34. Mention the difference between Italian and German brands of fascism. (2025)
35. “State ………. does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality, which lies at the root of all progress.” — Mahatma Gandhi. Elucidate. (2025)
36. Explain how the slogan ‘the personal is political’ addresses the issue of women’s oppression and discrimination? (2025)