BSEB Intermediate Political Science key terms

A grouping of states formed in 1961 at Belgrade that refused to join either Cold War bloc, seeking to protect newly independent nations' sovereignty and to press for disarmament and a fairer world economic order.

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence signed by India and China in 1954, covering mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

The 1955 Afro-Asian meeting in Indonesia where twenty-nine newly independent states condemned colonialism and racial discrimination, and set out principles of peaceful coexistence that prepared the ground for non-alignment.

A distribution of world power in which two states or blocs dominate international politics, as the United States and the Soviet Union did during the Cold War, shaping alliances, aid and trade across the globe.

Sustained rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union after 1945, waged through arms racing, alliances, propaganda, espionage and proxy wars rather than direct combat between the two superpowers.

A conflict in which outside powers back opposing local parties with money, arms or advisers instead of fighting each other directly, as in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan during the Cold War.

A phase of relaxed tension between rival powers, especially the 1970s Soviet-American understanding on arms limitation and trade, which reduced but did not end the underlying rivalry.

Negotiated limits on weapons, their testing or deployment, intended to reduce the risk of war and the cost of arsenals, such as the treaties restricting nuclear tests and anti-ballistic missile systems.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 into fifteen independent republics, driven by economic stagnation, nationalist movements and failed reform, which ended the Cold War's bipolar order.

A world order in which a single state holds preponderant military, economic and cultural power, a description often applied to the United States after the Soviet collapse in 1991.

Rapid market reform in post-communist economies involving price liberalisation, privatisation and cuts in state spending, which in Russia produced sharp falls in output and living standards.

A loose association formed in 1991 among most former Soviet republics to coordinate trade, security and other matters after the breakup, though it lacked the powers of a supranational body.

The dominance of one state over others, exercised not only through military force but also through economic weight, institutions, technology and cultural attraction that make its leadership seem normal.

The ability to influence others through attraction, such as culture, education, media and admired values, rather than through coercion or payment, a term coined by Joseph Nye.

A package of loan conditions imposed by international financial institutions requiring debtor states to liberalise markets, cut subsidies and privatise assets, often provoking domestic protest.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, created in 1944 to stabilise currencies and finance reconstruction and development, which became central to post-war economic governance.

The UN organ of fifteen members, five of them permanent with veto power, responsible for maintaining international peace and security and for imposing sanctions or authorising force.

The right of each permanent member of the UN Security Council to block a substantive resolution, a privilege that critics say protects great-power interests over collective security.

UN operations deploying military and civilian personnel, with the consent of the parties, to monitor ceasefires, protect civilians and support political settlements in conflict-torn states.

The principle that an attack on one member of an international system is treated as an attack on all, who then act together to restore peace, as envisaged in the UN Charter.

The doctrine that possessing nuclear weapons and threatening retaliation prevents attack, because an adversary would face unacceptable destruction, underpinning the logic of mutual assured destruction.

A declared policy of not being the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict, which India has officially maintained while reserving the right to massive retaliation against a nuclear strike.

India's stated nuclear posture of maintaining only the arsenal and delivery systems needed to inflict unacceptable retaliation, rather than matching larger arsenals weapon for weapon.

A 1968 treaty under which states without nuclear weapons forgo acquiring them, while recognised nuclear states commit to disarmament; India, Pakistan and Israel never signed it.

A treaty banning all nuclear explosions for military or civilian purposes, opened for signature in 1996 but not in force because key states, including India, have not ratified it.

A shift of focus from protecting states against military attack to protecting people against hunger, disease, displacement, crime and environmental harm, popularised by the UN in the 1990s.

Development that meets present needs without destroying the resource base and climate on which future generations depend, balancing economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.

Long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns caused mainly by burning fossil fuels, raising sea levels and threatening agriculture, and addressed through UN negotiations such as the Paris Agreement.

The principle that all states must protect the global environment while richer states, which historically emitted more, bear greater obligations of emission cuts and finance for poorer ones.

The process of forging a shared political identity, institutions and sense of belonging within a state's borders, especially where diverse linguistic, religious or ethnic groups were joined by colonial boundaries.

The incorporation of over five hundred princely territories into the Indian Union after 1947 through negotiation, accession instruments and, in cases such as Hyderabad and Junagadh, police or military action.

The redrawing of Indian state boundaries, notably by the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, to create units with a dominant language, following mass movements such as the Andhra agitation.

A party system in which a single party wins repeated national elections and forms government for long periods while other parties remain electorally significant but cannot dislodge it, as with the Congress until 1977.

Government formed by two or more parties pooling seats and sharing ministries, which became the norm in India from 1989 as no single party commanded a Lok Sabha majority.

Constitutional provisions, added in 1985, that disqualify legislators who voluntarily leave their party or vote against its whip, intended to curb floor-crossing in an era of unstable coalitions.

The period when fundamental rights were suspended and civil liberties curtailed on grounds of internal disturbance, during which opposition leaders were jailed and the press censored.

Political identification with and demands on behalf of a particular region, which in India has ranged from statehood movements to autonomy claims and, at times, secessionist agitation.

The degree of self-government a territory or group enjoys within a larger state, often granted through special constitutional provisions or accords to accommodate regional and cultural diversity.

A system dividing powers between a national government and constituent units, each with constitutionally guaranteed authority, as in India's Union, state and concurrent lists.

India's strategy of keeping independence from military blocs while engaging both superpowers, using multilateral forums and bilateral ties to protect sovereignty and promote development.

The capacity of a state to make foreign and security decisions according to its own interests without dependence on or dictation from stronger allies, a recurring theme in Indian policy debates.

Supreme legal authority of a state within its territory, implying independence from outside control and the exclusive right to make and enforce law over its population.

The condition of acting without arbitrary restraint, understood negatively as absence of interference and positively as the real capacity to pursue one's goals, including through enabling conditions.

The principle that persons deserve equal concern and respect, requiring both the absence of arbitrary discrimination and measures to reduce inequalities of wealth, status and opportunity.

Fairness in the distribution of benefits and burdens across society, including protection of disadvantaged groups, which Indian constitutional provisions pursue through equality and affirmative action.

Justified claims that individuals may make on others or the state, recognised in law or morality, such as rights to life, liberty, expression and a fair trial.

Rights guaranteed in Part III of the Indian Constitution, enforceable in courts against state action, covering equality, freedom, protection from exploitation, religion, culture and constitutional remedies.

The principle that the state treats all religions equally, neither establishing one as official nor discriminating between them, while allowing intervention to reform oppressive practices, as in the Indian model.

Full membership of a political community, carrying rights, duties and a legal status, and in India a single citizenship for the whole Union despite the federal division of powers.

An ideology holding that a people sharing a common identity should govern themselves in a state of their own, which in India was built around anti-colonial struggle and constitutional patriotism.

The growing interconnection of economies and societies through trade, investment, migration, technology and communication, which integrates markets while exposing states to external shocks.

Reduction of state controls over the economy, such as licensing, tariffs and public ownership, which India adopted from 1991 to attract investment and raise growth.

The dominance of one society's values, media and consumer patterns over others, seen as eroding local cultures under globalisation, particularly where Western firms dominate entertainment and news.

The process by which colonies in Asia and Africa achieved independence after the Second World War, expanding the number of sovereign states and reshaping international institutions and alliances.