BSEH SS Political Science study plan

Build a dated timeline (1945-1991) of Cold War flashpoints, marking each superpower bloc and alliance system (NATO, Warsaw Pact, SEATO, CENTO).

Trace the origin and evolution of the Non-Aligned Movement from the 1955 Bandung Conference through the 1961 Belgrade Summit, naming the founding leaders and their stated objectives.

Explain, in writing, how NAM members used non-alignment to extract aid and bargaining leverage from both superpowers, with two concrete country examples.

Define and distinguish key Cold War vocabulary: containment, brinkmanship, détente, domino theory, proxy war, and spheres of influence.

Explain the internal and external causes of the Soviet collapse (economic stagnation, glasnost/perestroika, nationalist movements, arms race, Afghanistan) and rank them by causal weight.

Describe the 1989-1991 sequence of events in Eastern Europe and identify which transitions were peaceful and which were violent.

Compare post-Soviet transitions in Russia, the Baltic states, and Central Asia, noting differences in democratisation, economic reform, and conflict.

Assess two consequences of bipolarity's end for the Global South, including effects on NAM's relevance and on India's foreign policy options.

Identify the military, economic, and cultural instruments of US hegemony and give one current example of each.

Evaluate the limits of US power using at least three cases where unilateral action produced constrained or contested outcomes.

Map the rise of the EU, China, Japan, and Russia as centres of power, noting each one's principal economic and institutional strengths.

Distinguish the structure, membership, and decision-making rules of the EU, ASEAN, SAARC, and the African Union.

Summarise the political trajectories of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives since independence, noting regime type changes and major crises.

Explain the sources of India-Pakistan and India-China friction, distinguishing territorial disputes from water, trade, and security issues.

Evaluate SAARC's record against ASEAN's, identifying institutional design features that explain the difference in effectiveness.

Describe India's neighbourhood policy instruments (aid, connectivity projects, trade preferences) and one criticism of each.

Outline the UN's principal organs and explain the division of labour between the General Assembly and the Security Council.

Explain the veto, the composition debate over permanent membership, and India's stated case for reform.

Distinguish the mandates of WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF, ILO, and the World Bank, giving one criticism of each agency's functioning.

Define traditional and non-traditional security, then classify terrorism, migration, climate change, and cyber threats using that distinction.

Explain globalisation's economic, cultural, and political dimensions and evaluate two arguments for and two against its benefits for developing economies.

Analyse environmental agreements and debates (climate negotiations, sustainable development, resource politics) and identify the core North-South disagreement.

Describe the challenges India faced at independence: partition and refugees, integration of princely states, and the linguistic reorganisation of states.

Explain how the states reorganisation process balanced administrative efficiency against identity demands, using at least two state examples.

Trace one-party dominance under Congress from 1952 to 1967, identifying the coalition of social groups that sustained it and the factors that eroded it.

Explain the shift to coalition politics from 1977 onward and describe how coalition governments changed policy-making and federal bargaining.

Outline the planning era: the rationale for five-year plans, the Green Revolution's inputs and outcomes, and the criticisms of both.

Describe the Emergency (1975-77) and its constitutional and political after-effects, then compare two regional movements (for example Punjab and the North-East) by grievance and outcome.

Identify the major developments in Indian politics since the 1990s: the rise of regional and caste-based parties, coalition realignments, and economic liberalisation.

Explain the Mandal-Mandir-Market framing and assess how each shaped party competition.

Revisit the heaviest domains (1, 3, 7) and self-test on Cold War, hegemony, and security/environment questions under timed conditions.

Consolidate all eight weeks into a one-page revision sheet of dates, institutions, and key terms, and list your five weakest areas for final review.