BSEB Intermediate Political Science cheat sheet

Cold War (1945-1991) was a sustained geopolitical rivalry between the US-led capitalist bloc and the Soviet-led communist bloc, fought through proxy wars, arms racing, alliances and ideology rather than direct superpower war.

Formal alliance structures: NATO (1949, Washington Treaty) and SEATO (1954) and CENTO (1955) on the Western side; Warsaw Pact (1955) and COMECON (1949) on the Soviet side.

Key Cold War flashpoints: Berlin Blockade (1948-49), Korean War (1950-53), Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), Vietnam War (1955-75), Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979), and the Euromissile crisis of the early 1980s.

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was founded at the Belgrade Summit in 1961, with Bandung (1955) as its precursor; founding leaders included Nehru, Nasser, Tito, Sukarno and Nkrumah.

NAM's criteria (from the 1961 preparatory meeting) required an independent foreign policy, support for national liberation movements, and refusal to join multilateral military alliances of the Cold War blocs.

India's non-alignment meant strategic autonomy and issue-based cooperation, not neutrality or isolationism; India signed the 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation while remaining formally non-aligned.

Détente (roughly 1969-1979) produced SALT I (1972), the Helsinki Accords (1975) and SALT II (1979, unratified), but collapsed after the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

Cold War ended with the Malta Summit (1989), the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989), German reunification (1990) and the dissolution of the USSR (December 1991).

The USSR dissolved in December 1991 into 15 independent republics; Russia became the legal successor state, inheriting the UN Security Council permanent seat and nuclear arsenal.

Gorbachev's reforms: glasnost (openness), perestroika (economic restructuring), and demokratizatsiya; the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and Afghanistan war costs accelerated internal crisis.

Shock therapy in post-Soviet Russia (1992 onwards) meant rapid price liberalisation, privatisation and fiscal austerity; outcomes included hyperinflation, output collapse and oligarchic concentration of assets.

The 'new world order' phrase was popularised by US President George H. W. Bush in 1990-91, describing a post-Cold War system of collective security and multilateral cooperation.

Post-Cold War features: US unipolarity, expanded NATO membership, the rise of the European Union as a civilian power, and the emergence of China as a systemic challenger.

Yugoslavia's break-up (1991-2008) produced wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo; the 1995 Dayton Agreement and 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo illustrate post-Cold War interventionism.

Colour revolutions (Georgia 2003, Ukraine 2004, Kyrgyzstan 2005) reflected contestation over post-Soviet political orientation; the 2014 Ukraine crisis and Crimea annexation marked renewed Russia-West confrontation.

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa; South Africa joined 2010) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation exemplify efforts to build multipolar institutions outside Western-led frameworks.

Hegemony denotes dominance achieved through a mix of military capability, economic weight, institutional agenda-setting and cultural attraction (soft power), not coercion alone.

US structural power rests on the dollar as the principal reserve currency, the Bretton Woods institutions (IMF, World Bank), and the size of its defence budget and global base network.

Hard power instruments include NATO, bilateral security guarantees (Japan, South Korea, Australia), and the forward deployment of naval carrier groups.

Soft power instruments include Hollywood and digital platforms, English-language higher education, and the global appeal of US cultural products.

Limits on US hegemony: the 2008 financial crisis, the costly Iraq (2003) and Afghanistan (2001-2021) wars, domestic polarisation, and China's economic and technological rise.

Contested concepts: 'unipolar moment' (Krauthammer, 1990) versus 'multipolarity' and 'asymmetric multipolarity' describing the current distribution of power.

US-China rivalry centres on semiconductors, 5G, artificial intelligence, trade tariffs and the South China Sea; the 'Indo-Pacific' framing reflects this strategic competition.

Multilateral contestation: the 2003 Iraq war split NATO and the UN Security Council (France, Germany, Russia, China opposed the invasion), illustrating limits of US agenda-setting.

The United Nations was founded on 24 October 1945 under the UN Charter, signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945; India was a founding member.

Principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice (ICJ, The Hague) and Secretariat (New York).

Security Council has 5 permanent members (China, France, Russia, UK, US) with veto power and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.

General Assembly: one state, one vote; resolutions on peace and security are non-binding, while budget decisions require a two-thirds majority.

Specialised agencies: WHO (health, Geneva), UNESCO (education and culture, Paris), ILO (labour, Geneva), FAO (food, Rome), IMF and World Bank (Bretton Woods, Washington DC).

UN peacekeeping missions operate under Chapter VI (consent-based) or Chapter VII (enforcement) of the Charter; India has been among the largest troop contributors historically.

Other bodies: WTO (1995, successor to GATT, Geneva), ICJ (state-to-state disputes) and ICC (individual criminal responsibility, Rome Statute 1998, separate from the UN).

India has sought permanent Security Council membership under the G4 grouping (India, Brazil, Germany, Japan) and is a member of the G20, BRICS and the Commonwealth.

Traditional security focuses on military threats and state sovereignty; non-traditional security covers terrorism, migration, pandemics, organised crime, climate change and cyber threats.

Collective security (League of Nations, UN Charter Chapter VII) assumes aggression against one member concerns all; it requires agreement among the major powers to function.

Nuclear deterrence rests on assured second-strike capability and mutual vulnerability (Mutually Assured Destruction); arms control instruments include NPT (1968), CTBT (1996, not in force) and START/New START.

Environmental regimes: UNFCCC (1992), Kyoto Protocol (1997, binding on Annex I), Paris Agreement (2015, Nationally Determined Contributions, global temperature goal well below 2 degrees Celsius, pursuing 1.5 degrees).

Climate justice debates centres on common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), historical emissions, and climate finance transfers from developed to developing states.

Global commons issues include ozone depletion (Montreal Protocol 1987), biodiversity loss (Convention on Biological Diversity 1992) and ocean governance under UNCLOS.

India's climate commitments include the National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008) and the updated 2030 targets under its Nationally Determined Contribution.

Pandemic security: WHO's International Health Regulations and the 2005 revision govern outbreak notification; global vaccine inequity highlighted structural inequalities in health governance.

India attained independence on 15 August 1947 under the Indian Independence Act 1947; the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949, effective 26 January 1950.

Integration of princely states was managed through instruments of accession and the States Reorganisation Act 1956, following the Fazl Ali Commission; Hyderabad, Junagadh and Kashmir were contested cases.

Linguistic reorganisation: the JVP Committee and the 1953 Potti Sriramulu fast led to the creation of Andhra (1953) and the States Reorganisation Commission (Fazl Ali, K. M. Panikkar, H. N. Kunzru).

The Constitution created a federal parliamentary system with single citizenship, an independent judiciary and a strong centre; Article 356 covers President's Rule in states.

Land reform and the abolition of zamindari were pursued through state legislation; the Green Revolution (from the mid-1960s) combined HYV seeds, irrigation and credit to achieve food self-sufficiency.

Industrial policy: the Industrial Policy Resolution 1956 assigned industries to three schedules and established the public sector as the commanding height of the economy.

The linguistic reorganisation of Punjab (1966) and the creation of states in the North East (Nagaland 1963, Meghalaya 1972, Mizoram 1987) illustrate accommodation of regional identity.

Challenges to nation-building included refugee resettlement after Partition, integration of tribal communities, and the task of building a secular civic identity.

Congress dominance (1952-1977) rested on a broad social coalition, a well-organised party machine, leadership legitimacy from the freedom movement and the 'Congress system' of internal factions.

1952 first general election: Congress won about 364 of 489 Lok Sabha seats; the first-past-the-post system converted a minority vote share into a large seat majority.

Opposition parties of the era: Communist Party of India (1952), Praja Socialist Party, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1951), Swatantra Party (1959) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

The 1967 elections marked the end of Congress dominance at the state level, with non-Congress coalitions forming in several states; the term 'coalition era' begins in the 1970s.

Janata Party (1977) was the first non-Congress government at the centre, formed after the Emergency; it collapsed in 1979 over the dual-membership issue.

Coalition governments at the centre: National Front (1989-91), United Front (1996-98), NDA (1998-2004, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee), UPA (2004-2014) and NDA from 2014.

Coalition politics features: common minimum programmes, federal bargaining over resources, and the role of regional parties as kingmakers.

Anti-defection law (10th Schedule, 1985, strengthened 2003) regulates floor-crossing and shapes coalition stability.

National Emergency was proclaimed on 25 June 1975 under Article 352 on grounds of internal disturbance; it was revoked on 21 March 1977.

During the Emergency, fundamental rights were suspended, censorship was imposed, and the 42nd Amendment (1976) altered the balance between Parliament and the judiciary.

The Shah Commission (1977) investigated Emergency excesses; the 44th Amendment (1978) restored protections and added 'armed rebellion' as a ground for emergency.

Regional movements: Dravidian movement (anti-Hindi agitation 1965), Assam agitation (1979-85, Assam Accord 1985), Punjab militancy (1980s, Operation Blue Star 1984), and the Kashmir insurgency from 1989.

North-East movements include Naga insurgency (NSCN), Mizo National Front (Mizo Accord 1986) and the Bodoland movement; accords have been the main accommodation mechanism.

Social movements: Chipko movement (1973, forest protection), Narmada Bachao Andolan (displacement and dam safety), and the farmers' movement of 2020-21 against the three farm laws.

Dalit and backward class mobilisation: the Mandal Commission (1980) recommended 27 per cent OBC reservation, implemented in 1990; the 103rd Amendment (2019) introduced EWS reservation.

Women's movement achievements include the 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992-93) reserving one-third of seats in local bodies and the 106th Amendment (2023) reserving seats in legislatures.

Article 51 of the Constitution directs the state to promote international peace and security and to foster respect for international law and treaty obligations.

The Nehruvian framework combined non-alignment, anti-colonialism, support for the UN and peaceful coexistence (Panchsheel, 1954, with China).

India's nuclear programme began with the Atomic Energy Act 1948 and the establishment of the Atomic Energy Commission (1948); Homi Bhabha was the founding figure.

Pokhran-I (18 May 1974, 'Smiling Buddha') was described as a peaceful nuclear explosion; Pokhran-II (11 and 13 May 1998) comprised five tests and was followed by a declared nuclear weapons capability.

India's nuclear doctrine (drafted 1999, revised 2003) declares no first use, credible minimum deterrence, and civilian control through the Nuclear Command Authority chaired by the Prime Minister.

India is not a party to the NPT or CTBT but signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with the US (2005-2008) after obtaining an IAEA safeguards-specific waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Relations with neighbours: India-China (Panchsheel 1954, 1962 war, border agreements 1993 and 1996, Galwan 2020), India-Pakistan (Simla Agreement 1972, Lahore Declaration 1999, Indus Waters Treaty 1960).

Multilateral engagement: India joined the WTO in 1995, is a member of the G20 and SCO, and hosted the G20 summit in 2023; it follows strategic autonomy rather than bloc alignment.

Negative liberty (Isaiah Berlin) means absence of external constraints; positive liberty means the capacity for self-mastery and self-realisation, and can justify state intervention.

Freedom of speech and expression (Article 19(1)(a)) is subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2) on grounds including sovereignty, security, public order, decency and morality.

Formal equality means equal treatment before the law; substantive equality requires accommodating differences through measures such as reservation and affirmative action.

Rawls's justice as fairness uses the original position, the veil of ignorance, the liberty principle and the difference principle (inequalities permitted only if they benefit the least advantaged).

Amartya Sen's capability approach evaluates equality in terms of what people are actually able to do and be, not merely resources or utility.

Legal rights are enforceable in courts; moral rights are claims grounded in ethical principles. Fundamental rights (Part III) are justiciable, while Directive Principles (Part IV) are not directly enforceable.

Article 32 provides the right to constitutional remedies, described by Dr Ambedkar as the 'heart and soul' of the Constitution; writs include habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto.

Theories of rights include natural rights (Locke), legal positivism (rights as created by law) and human rights as universal claims (UDHR, 1948).

Nation is an imagined political community (Benedict Anderson); nationalism is the ideology that the nation should be the basis of political organisation.

Civic nationalism bases membership on citizenship and political values; ethnic nationalism bases it on descent, language or culture.

Indian nationalism during the freedom movement was largely civic and territorial, articulated through the Congress and the idea of composite culture.

Secularism in the Indian Constitution means the state has no religion of its own, treats all religions equally and may intervene to reform religion (Articles 25-28).

The 42nd Amendment (1976) inserted the word 'secular' into the Preamble; the Supreme Court's Kesavananda Bharati (1973) judgment placed secularism within the basic structure.

Indian secularism is 'principled distance' (Rajeev Bhargava) rather than strict French laicite or US separation, allowing state support for all religions.

Citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act 1955 (amended 1986, 2003, 2019) and Part II of the Constitution (Articles 5-11); India follows single citizenship.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 grants expedited citizenship to certain religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan; it has been constitutionally contested.

Development paradigms: modernisation theory (Rostow's stages), dependency theory (centre-periphery), and human development (UNDP Human Development Index from 1990, using health, education and income).

The HDI combines life expectancy, mean and expected years of schooling, and GNI per capita; the HDI was devised by Mahbub ul Haq with Amartya Sen.

The 1991 economic reforms in India introduced liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation: rupee devaluation, trade liberalisation, and dismantling of the licence-permit raj.

Globalisation involves flows of goods, capital, technology, people and ideas; it is enabled by the WTO (1995), container shipping, and digital communication.

Critiques of globalisation: rising inequality, labour standards erosion, cultural homogenisation, and vulnerability to financial contagion (1997 Asian crisis, 2008 global crisis).

Sustainable development is defined by the Brundtland Report (1987) as development meeting present needs without compromising future generations; the SDGs (2015) set 17 goals to 2030.

Contemporary concerns: digital surveillance and data privacy (Puttaswamy judgment 2017 recognised privacy as a fundamental right), misinformation, and the future of work under automation.

India's demographic dividend, urbanisation and informal-sector employment are central policy debates; MGNREGA (2005) guarantees rural wage employment as a rights-based development instrument.