Assam ASSEB Higher Secondary Political Science cheat sheet

Cold War (1947–1991): US-led capitalist bloc vs Soviet-led communist bloc; never direct war between the two superpowers, rivalry fought through arms race, alliances, proxy wars and ideology.

Key alliances: NATO (1949, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) under US leadership; Warsaw Pact (1955) under USSR; SEATO (1954) and CENTO (1955) were US-backed pacts now dissolved.

Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962): Soviet missiles detected in Cuba; Kennedy's naval 'quarantine' and secret deal (US missiles out of Turkey) led to USSR withdrawal and a Moscow–Washington hotline (1963).

Berlin: blockade 1948–49 answered by the US airlift; Berlin Wall built 1961, fell 9 November 1989 - a marker of the Cold War's end in Europe.

Proxy conflicts: Korea (1950–53, armistice at the 38th parallel), Vietnam (US withdrawal 1973, reunification 1975), Afghanistan (Soviet invasion 1979, withdrawal 1989).

Non-Aligned Movement (Belgrade 1961; founders Nehru, Nasser, Tito, Sukarno, Nkrumah) offered a third path; India's 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty showed non-alignment could coexist with a security treaty.

Détente (1960s–70s): SALT I (1972), Helsinki Accords (1975); renewed tension after the 1979 Afghanistan invasion and the 1980s 'Star Wars' (SDI) programme.

Cold War ended with Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika, the 1989 Eastern European revolutions and the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991, leaving the US as the sole superpower.

Post-Cold War features: unipolar moment, US-led Gulf War (1991), NATO and EU eastward expansion, ethnic conflicts in the Balkans, and later the rise of China as a challenger to unipolarity.

UN founded 24 October 1945; six principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council (suspended 1994), International Court of Justice, Secretariat.

UN Security Council has 5 permanent members (China, France, Russia, UK, US) with veto power and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms; India has sought permanent membership since the 1990s.

UN specialised agencies: WHO (health, Geneva), UNESCO (education/culture, Paris), ILO (labour, Geneva), IMF and World Bank (Bretton Woods, Washington), WTO (trade, Geneva, 1995).

Peacekeeping: UN blue helmets operate only with consent of parties and normally use force only in self-defence; India is among the largest troop contributors historically.

Regional organisations: SAARC (1985, Dhaka; 8 members), ASEAN (1967, Bangkok), EU, African Union (2002), Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (2001), BRICS (2009 summit; India, Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, expanded 2024).

Global governance challenges: climate change (UNFCCC, Kyoto 1997, Paris Agreement 2015), terrorism, pandemics, nuclear non-proliferation (NPT 1968; India is not a signatory but has NSG waiver since 2008).

Globalisation and its discontents: trade liberalisation, WTO disputes, supply-chain shifts, and rising economic nationalism after 2008.

Emerging multipolarity: US–China strategic rivalry, Russia–Ukraine war (2022) and sanctions, G20's enlarged role, and India's G20 presidency in 2023 (New Delhi Declaration).

Objectives: national security, territorial integrity, economic development, and strategic autonomy; Article 51 of the Constitution directs the state to promote international peace and security.

Panchsheel (1954, India–China agreement on Tibet): five principles - mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference, equality and mutual benefit, peaceful coexistence.

Non-alignment: Nehru's policy of avoiding military blocs; NAM membership; India signed the 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation for security guarantees.

Nuclear policy: Pokhran-I (1974, 'peaceful nuclear explosion'), Pokhran-II (1998), No First Use doctrine, credible minimum deterrence, and the 2005 India–US civil nuclear deal.

Neighbours: India–Pakistan (Kashmir dispute, 1947–48, 1965, 1971 wars, Kargil 1999, LoC, Indus Waters Treaty 1960); India–China (1962 war, Line of Actual Control, Doklam 2017, Galwan 2020); India–Bangladesh (1971 liberation, land boundary agreement 2015); India–Sri Lanka (1987 accord, IPKF); India–Nepal (1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship); India–Bhutan (1949 treaty, revised 2007); India–Maldives and Myanmar (Kaladan project, Act East).

Guiding concepts: Gujral Doctrine (1996, non-reciprocal concessions to smaller neighbours), Look East/Act East Policy, Neighbourhood First, SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

Multilateral engagements: BRICS, SCO, Quad (India, US, Japan, Australia), IBSA, G20 presidency 2023, and UN peacekeeping; India is a nuclear-weapon state outside the NPT.

Partition (1947): Radcliffe Line drew borders; about 14–15 million people migrated; communal violence; integration of 562 princely states via Instrument of Accession and the States Department under Sardar Patel and V.P. Menon.

Hyderabad annexed by 'Operation Polo' (September 1948); Junagadh and Kashmir acceded in 1947; Kashmir issue referred to the UN; Article 370 gave J&K special status (abrogated 2019).

Linguistic reorganisation: Potti Sriramulu's fast led to Andhra (1953); States Reorganisation Act 1956 created states largely along language lines after the Fazl Ali Commission.

Official language controversy: Hindi in Devanagari as official language under Article 343, with English continued under the Official Languages Act 1963; anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu (1965).

Nation-building challenges: communal division, refugee rehabilitation, regionalism, secessionist movements (Punjab in the 1980s, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram), and caste and tribal integration.

Assam-specific: Assam Agitation (1979–85) against illegal migration, ended by the Assam Accord (15 August 1985), leading to the Asom Gana Parishad government in 1985.

Constitutional tools for integration: Sixth Schedule autonomous district councils for tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; Fifth Schedule for Scheduled Areas; Article 371 series special provisions for the Northeast.

Congress dominance 1952–1977: won comfortable Lok Sabha majorities in 1952, 1957, 1962; the term 'Congress system' (Rajni Kothari) describes dominance with internal factions acting as an opposition.

1952 election: first general election under the Election Commission (Sukumar Sen as first CEC); universal adult suffrage; Congress won 364 of 489 seats.

Opposition parties: Communist Party of India (1952), Praja Socialist Party, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1951), Swatantra Party (1959), and the DMK in Tamil Nadu.

Congress split 1969 (Indira Gandhi vs Syndicate); bank nationalisation and 'garibi hatao' in 1971; the 1975–77 Emergency and the Janata Party victory in 1977 ended one-party dominance.

Coalition era: National Front (1989, V.P. Singh), United Front (1996–98, Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral), NDA (1998–2004, Vajpayee), UPA (2004–14, Manmohan Singh), NDA from 2014.

Coalition politics features: regional parties as kingmakers, common minimum programmes, federal bargaining, and instability with frequent changes of prime minister in the 1990s.

Rajni Kothari's 'Congress system' and the later 'Mandal–Mandir' realignment (1990s) reshaped party competition.

Democratic upsurge: participation of hitherto excluded groups - backward castes, Dalits, Adivasis and women - through elections, caste associations and social movements from the 1980s onward.

Mandal Commission (1979, B.P. Mandal): report recommended 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes; implemented by V.P. Singh in 1990; Indra Sawhney judgment (1992) upheld it and excluded the 'creamy layer'.

Mandal–Mandir: Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Babri Masjid demolition (6 December 1992), and the rise of the BJP; the 1992–93 riots followed.

Regional movements: Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu (DMK 1949, AIADMK 1972), Telangana (statehood 2014), Gorkhaland, Bodoland, Vidarbha, and the Bodo Accord (2020).

Punjab: Anandpur Sahib Resolution (1973), Operation Blue Star (1984), assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1985 Rajiv–Longowal Accord.

Northeast: Naga insurgency and the 1975 Shillong Accord; Mizo Accord (1986); Assam Accord (1985); AFSPA and the debate over its repeal.

Dalit and backward-caste politics: BSP (Kanshi Ram, 1984), Samajwadi Party (1992), RJD, and the Mandal-based political consolidation of the 1990s.

Negative liberty (Isaiah Berlin): absence of external interference - the 'area within which a man can act unobstructed by others'; positive liberty: capacity for self-mastery and realisation of potential.

Freedom of expression is protected by Article 19(1)(a) with reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2); 'reasonable restriction' is judged by proportionality and public order standards.

Equality: formal equality (equal treatment, Article 14) vs substantive equality (differential treatment to correct disadvantage, Articles 15(3), 15(4), 16(4)); equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome.

Rawls: justice as fairness, original position, veil of ignorance, two principles - equal basic liberties, and inequalities arranged to benefit the least advantaged (difference principle).

Other theories: utilitarianism (greatest happiness), libertarianism (Nozick, entitlement), communitarianism (Sandel, MacIntyre), and Amartya Sen's capability approach to equality and development.

Feminist and Marxist critiques: the personal is political; formal equality masks structural power; distributive justice concerns ownership of the means of production.

Justice: procedural vs substantive; retributive, distributive and restorative justice; the Indian Constitution's Preamble promises justice - social, economic and political.

Rights: legal rights are enforceable by law; moral/natural rights are claimed independently of the state; human rights are universal and inalienable (UDHR 1948).

Three generations of rights (Karel Vasak): civil-political (first), economic-social-cultural (second), collective/solidarity (third).

Citizenship: liberal view (individual rights, membership of a state) vs republican/civic view (participation, civic virtue); Marshall's civil, political and social components.

Citizenship in India: Part II and the Citizenship Act 1955 (birth, descent, registration, naturalisation, incorporation of territory); CAA 2019 and the NRC debate; single citizenship despite a federal structure.

Nationalism: civic vs ethnic; Benedict Anderson's 'imagined communities'; Ernest Gellner on industrial modernity; liberal nationalism (Tamir) vs aggressive chauvinism.

Secularism: Indian model = sarva dharma samabhava (equal respect for all religions) with no state religion (Articles 25–28); French model = strict separation (laïcité); US model = non-establishment plus free exercise.

Indian secularism permits state intervention in religion for reform (temple entry, Article 17 abolition of untouchability) and the 1971 and 1976 constitutional amendments inserted 'secular' into the Preamble.

Constituent Assembly: first met 9 December 1946; Objectives Resolution moved by Nehru; Drafting Committee chaired by B.R. Ambedkar; Constitution adopted 26 November 1949, came into force 26 January 1950.

Sources: Government of India Act 1935 (federal structure, emergency), US (fundamental rights, judicial review), UK (parliamentary system), Ireland (DPSP), Canada (strong centre), USSR (fundamental duties).

Fundamental Rights (Part III, Articles 12–35): equality (14–18), freedom (19–22), against exploitation (23–24), religion (25–28), cultural and educational (29–30), constitutional remedies (32, 'heart and soul' per Ambedkar); writs: habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, quo warranto.

Directive Principles (Part IV, Articles 36–51) are non-justiciable; Article 51A fundamental duties added by the 42nd Amendment (1976).

Union executive: President (Article 52) elected indirectly by an electoral college; Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (Article 74); President acts on ministerial advice after the 42nd and 44th Amendments.

Parliament: Lok Sabha (max 552) and Rajya Sabha (max 250, 12 nominated); money bills only in Lok Sabha with the Rajya Sabha limited to 14 days (Article 109); President's ordinance power under Article 123.

Judiciary: Supreme Court (Article 124), High Courts (Article 214); judicial review; Kesavananda Bharati (1973) basic structure doctrine; collegium system for appointments.

Federalism: Seventh Schedule - Union, State and Concurrent Lists; Article 356 President's Rule; Article 368 amendment procedure; 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992–93) created panchayats and municipalities as constitutional bodies.

Cold War (1947–1991): US-led capitalist bloc vs Soviet-led communist bloc; never direct war between the two superpowers, rivalry fought through arms race, alliances, proxy wars and ideology.

Key alliances: NATO (1949, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) under US leadership; Warsaw Pact (1955) under USSR; SEATO (1954) and CENTO (1955) were US-backed pacts now dissolved.

Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962): Soviet missiles detected in Cuba; Kennedy's naval 'quarantine' and secret deal (US missiles out of Turkey) led to USSR withdrawal and a Moscow–Washington hotline (1963).

Berlin: blockade 1948–49 answered by the US airlift; Berlin Wall built 1961, fell 9 November 1989 - a marker of the Cold War's end in Europe.

Proxy conflicts: Korea (1950–53, armistice at the 38th parallel), Vietnam (US withdrawal 1973, reunification 1975), Afghanistan (Soviet invasion 1979, withdrawal 1989).

Non-Aligned Movement (Belgrade 1961; founders Nehru, Nasser, Tito, Sukarno, Nkrumah) offered a third path; India's 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty showed non-alignment could coexist with a security treaty.

Détente (1960s–70s): SALT I (1972), Helsinki Accords (1975); renewed tension after the 1979 Afghanistan invasion and the 1980s 'Star Wars' (SDI) programme.

Cold War ended with Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika, the 1989 Eastern European revolutions and the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991, leaving the US as the sole superpower.

Post-Cold War features: unipolar moment, US-led Gulf War (1991), NATO and EU eastward expansion, ethnic conflicts in the Balkans, and later the rise of China as a challenger to unipolarity.