UPSC CSE Political Science & International Relations (PSIR) Optional Syllabus 2026

PSIR as an optional subject in UPSC Civil Services Exam(CSE) is majorly opted by numerous aspirants preparing for CSE. PSIR is regarded as one of the high scoring optional subjects in UPSC CSE. Many toppers such as UPSC CSE AIR-1 Kishore (313/500) in 2022 and Pooja Ranawat (319/500) in 2017 have scored highest marks by choosing PSIR as an optional subject.

The discipline has many common sections, hence also helps the students in general studies for both prelims and mains stage of the examination process. PSIR optional paper has a weightage of 500 marks for both Paper-I and Paper-II. Opting PSIR as an optional subject can actually make a difference in the All India Rank(AIR) of the candidate in the UPSC final result list.

UPSC CSE PSIR Optional Syllabus Paper-I

Section	Topics
Political Theory and Indian Politics	Political Theory: meaning and approaches. Theories of state: Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, post-colonial and Feminist. Justice: Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawl’s theory of justice and its communitarian critiques. Equality: Social, political and economic; relationship between equality and freedom, Affirmative action. Rights: Meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; Concept of Human Rights. Democracy: Classical and contemporary theories; different models of democracy—representative, participatory and deliberative. Concept of power: hegemony, ideology and legitimacy. Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism. Indian Political Thought: Dharamshastra, Arthashastra and Buddhist Traditions; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M. K. Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar, M. N. Roy. Western Political Thought: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, John S. Mill, Marx, Gramsci, Hannah Arendt.
Indian Government and Politics	Indian Nationalism: (a) Political Strategies of India’s Freedom Struggle: Constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience; Militant and Revolutionary Movements, Peasant and Workers Movements. (b) Perspectives on Indian National Movement; Liberal, Socialist and Marxist; Radical Humanist and Dalit. Making of the Indian Constitution: Legacies of the British rule; different social and political perspectives. Salient Features of the Indian Constitution: The Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties, Directive Principles; Parliamentary System and Amendment Procedures; Judicial Review and Basic Structure doctrine. (a) Principal Organs of the Union Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the Executive, Legislature and Supreme Court. (b) Principal Organs of the State Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the Executive, Legislature and High Courts. Grassroots Democracy: Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government; Significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments; Grassroots movements. Statutory Institutions/Commissions: Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Finance Commission, Union Public Service Commission, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Women; National human Rights Commission, National Commission for Minorities, National Backward Classes Commission. Federalism: Constitutional provisions; changing nature of centre-state relations; integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes. Planning and Economic Development: Nehruvian and Gandhian perspectives; role of planning and public sector; Green Revolution, land reforms and agrarian relations; liberalization and economic reforms. Caste, Religion and Ethnicity in Indian Politics. Party System: National and regional political parties, ideological and social bases of parties; Patterns of coalition politics; Pressure groups, trends in electoral behaviour; changing socio-economic profile of Legislators. Social Movement: Civil liberties and human rights movements; women’s movements; environmentalist movements.

Section

Topics

Political Theory and Indian Politics

Political Theory: meaning and approaches.
Theories of state: Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluralist, post-colonial and Feminist.
Justice: Conceptions of justice with special reference to Rawl’s theory of justice and its communitarian critiques.
Equality: Social, political and economic; relationship between equality and freedom, Affirmative action.
Rights: Meaning and theories; different kinds of rights; Concept of Human Rights.
Democracy: Classical and contemporary theories; different models of democracy—representative, participatory and deliberative.
Concept of power: hegemony, ideology and legitimacy.
Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Gandhism and Feminism.
Indian Political Thought: Dharamshastra, Arthashastra and Buddhist Traditions; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Sri Aurobindo, M. K. Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar, M. N. Roy.
Western Political Thought: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, John S. Mill, Marx, Gramsci, Hannah Arendt.

Indian Government and Politics

Indian Nationalism: (a) Political Strategies of India’s Freedom Struggle: Constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience; Militant and Revolutionary Movements, Peasant and Workers Movements. (b) Perspectives on Indian National Movement; Liberal, Socialist and Marxist; Radical Humanist and Dalit.
Making of the Indian Constitution: Legacies of the British rule; different social and political perspectives.
Salient Features of the Indian Constitution: The Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties, Directive Principles; Parliamentary System and Amendment Procedures; Judicial Review and Basic Structure doctrine.
(a) Principal Organs of the Union Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the Executive, Legislature and Supreme Court. (b) Principal Organs of the State Government: Envisaged role and actual working of the Executive, Legislature and High Courts.
Grassroots Democracy: Panchayati Raj and Municipal Government; Significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments; Grassroots movements.
Statutory Institutions/Commissions: Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Finance Commission, Union Public Service Commission, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Women; National human Rights Commission, National Commission for Minorities, National Backward Classes Commission.
Federalism: Constitutional provisions; changing nature of centre-state relations; integrationist tendencies and regional aspirations; inter-state disputes.
Planning and Economic Development: Nehruvian and Gandhian perspectives; role of planning and public sector; Green Revolution, land reforms and agrarian relations; liberalization and economic reforms.
Caste, Religion and Ethnicity in Indian Politics.
Party System: National and regional political parties, ideological and social bases of parties; Patterns of coalition politics; Pressure groups, trends in electoral behaviour; changing socio-economic profile of Legislators.
Social Movement: Civil liberties and human rights movements; women’s movements; environmentalist movements.

UPSC CSE PSIR Optional Syllabus Paper-II

Section	Topics
Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics	Comparative Politics: Nature and major approaches; Political economy and political sociology perspectives; Limitations of the comparative method. State in Comparative Perspective: Characteristics and changing nature of the State in capitalist and socialist economies, and advanced industrial and developing societies. Politics of Representation and Participation: Political parties, pressure groups and social movements in advanced industrial and developing societies. Globalisation: Responses from developed and developing societies. Approaches to the Study of International Relations: Idealist, Realist, Marxist, Functionalist and Systems theory. Key Concepts in International Relations: National interest, security and power; Balance of power and deterrence; Transnational actors and collective security; World capitalist economy and globalisation. Changing International Political Order: (a) Rise of super powers; Strategic and ideological Bipolarity; arms race and cold war; Nuclear threat; (b) Non-aligned Movement: Aims and achievements; (c) Collapse of the Soviet Union: Unipolarity and American hegemony; Relevance of non-alignment in the contemporary world. Evolution of the International Economic System: From Bretton Woods to WTO; Socialist economies and the CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance); Third World demand for new international economic order; Globalisation of the world economy. United Nations: Envisaged role and actual record; Specialized UN agencies—aims and functioning; need for UN reforms. Regionalisation of World Politics: EU, ASEAN, APEC, SAARC, NAFTA. Contemporary Global Concerns: Democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation.
India and the World	Indian Foreign Policy: Determinants of foreign policy; the institutions of policy-making; Continuity and change. India’s Contribution to the Non-Alignment Movement: Different phases; Current role. India and South Asia: (a) Regional Co-operation. SAARC-past performance and future prospects. (b) South Asia as a Free Trade Area. (c) India’s “Look East” policy. (d) Impediments to regional co-operation: River water disputes; illegal cross border migration; Ethnic conflicts and insurgencies; Border disputes. India and the Global South: Relations with Africa and Latin America; Leadership role in the demand for NIEO and WTO negotiations. India and the Global Centres of Power: USA, EU, Japan, China and Russia. India and the UN System: Role in UN Peace-keeping; Demand for Permanent Seat in the Security Council. India and the Nuclear Question: Changing perceptions and policy. Recent developments in Indian Foreign Policy: India’s position on the recent crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and West Asia, growing relations with US and Israel; Vision of a new world order.

Section

Topics

Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics

Comparative Politics: Nature and major approaches; Political economy and political sociology perspectives; Limitations of the comparative method.
State in Comparative Perspective: Characteristics and changing nature of the State in capitalist and socialist economies, and advanced industrial and developing societies.
Politics of Representation and Participation: Political parties, pressure groups and social movements in advanced industrial and developing societies.
Globalisation: Responses from developed and developing societies.
Approaches to the Study of International Relations: Idealist, Realist, Marxist, Functionalist and Systems theory.
Key Concepts in International Relations: National interest, security and power; Balance of power and deterrence; Transnational actors and collective security; World capitalist economy and globalisation.
Changing International Political Order: (a) Rise of super powers; Strategic and ideological Bipolarity; arms race and cold war; Nuclear threat; (b) Non-aligned Movement: Aims and achievements; (c) Collapse of the Soviet Union: Unipolarity and American hegemony; Relevance of non-alignment in the contemporary world.
Evolution of the International Economic System: From Bretton Woods to WTO; Socialist economies and the CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance); Third World demand for new international economic order; Globalisation of the world economy.
United Nations: Envisaged role and actual record; Specialized UN agencies—aims and functioning; need for UN reforms.
Regionalisation of World Politics: EU, ASEAN, APEC, SAARC, NAFTA.
Contemporary Global Concerns: Democracy, human rights, environment, gender justice, terrorism, nuclear proliferation.

India and the World

Indian Foreign Policy: Determinants of foreign policy; the institutions of policy-making; Continuity and change.
India’s Contribution to the Non-Alignment Movement: Different phases; Current role.
India and South Asia: (a) Regional Co-operation. SAARC-past performance and future prospects. (b) South Asia as a Free Trade Area. (c) India’s “Look East” policy. (d) Impediments to regional co-operation: River water disputes; illegal cross border migration; Ethnic conflicts and insurgencies; Border disputes.
India and the Global South: Relations with Africa and Latin America; Leadership role in the demand for NIEO and WTO negotiations.
India and the Global Centres of Power: USA, EU, Japan, China and Russia.
India and the UN System: Role in UN Peace-keeping; Demand for Permanent Seat in the Security Council.
India and the Nuclear Question: Changing perceptions and policy.
Recent developments in Indian Foreign Policy: India’s position on the recent crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and West Asia, growing relations with US and Israel; Vision of a new world order.

Download CSE PSIR Optional Previous Year Papers

Follow the steps to download the papers:

Open the NEXT IAS website
Go to the ‘Free resources’ tab and click on the ‘Previous Year Papers’ in the menu.
You will be redirected to the page where you can find all the previous year exam papers of the UPSC CSE.
You can also navigate using the dropdown box on the side, for example, navigating to prelims, mains or optional papers.
Search through the list of available papers to locate the PSIR Optional Paper.
You can both view and download the papers.
Download the PSIR optional subject PDF by clicking the download icon or using the ‘Save As’ option from the browser.
Once finished with the download, save the document in a folder for future reference.

Download PSIR Optional Previous Year Papers

PSIR Optional Past Year Toppers

Over recent years, PSIR has remained a popular and high-scoring UPSC optional.
The benchmark was achieved by Pooja Ranawat (AIR 258, CSE 2017) with a total score of 319/500 (Paper I: 152, Paper II: 167).
Recent toppers prove that PSIR provides an edge as it is a high-scoring optional subject.
Another topper who selected PSIR is Shakti Dubey (AIR 1, CSE 2025), who achieved top marks in optional subjects.
Then comes Harshita Goyal (AIR 2), who selected PSIR.
Ishita Kishore (AIR 1, 2022) got 313/500 (147 in Paper I and 166 in Paper II), and Utkarsh Dwivedi (AIR 5, 2021) got 314. Other well-known examples include Trupti Dhomise.
These performers provide compact answers, diagrams, analysis of PYQs, and link International Relations with Indian polity.
The PSIR syllabus is suitable for humanities backgrounds.

FAQs on PSIR Optional Syllabus

What is the structure of UPSC PSIR Optional Syllabus?

The UPSC PSIR Optional is divided into two papers and each paper is worth 250 marks (total of 500 marks).The first paper deals with Political Theory, Indian Political Thought, Western Political Thought, and Indian Government & Politics.The second paper deals with Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Foreign Policy of India.

What are the chief subjects dealt with in the PSIR Paper-I exam?

Paper-I concentrates with fixed notions such as theories of the State (liberal and Marxism), justice (Rawls), equality, rights, democracy models, or politics in India that comprises the Constitution, federalism, and political parties.

What is the difference between PSIR Paper-II and Paper-I?

Paper-II is also dynamic, dealing with comparative politics techniques, IR school of thought (Realism, Liberalism), international issues (UN, WTO), and India and the world, such as neighborhood policies, bilateral relations, and the like. Integrating current events with the syllabus is important for Paper-II.

How big is the overlap with General Studies?

PSIR overlaps significantly with GS Paper II (Polity, IR, Governance) and GS IV (Ethics). Around 50-60% content synergy reduces preparation load, benefiting both Mains and interview stages.

Is PSIR suitable for beginners?

Yes, for humanities graduates. It demands consistent current affairs reading (The Hindu) alongside static books like O.P. Gauba.