KSEAB II PUC Political Science flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Political Science

The systematic study of the state, government, power, and political behaviour, using observation and comparison rather than controlled experiment because it is a social science.

Behaviouralism

A post-1945 approach that seeks verifiable generalisations about actual political behaviour, rejecting value-laden normative analysis and emphasising empirical methods.

Montevideo Convention elements

The 1933 convention lists four state elements: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and capacity to enter relations with other states.

Social contract theory

The view that the state arises from an agreement among people to escape the state of nature; Hobbes favoured absolute sovereignty, Locke limited government, Rousseau popular sovereignty.

Internal sovereignty

The supreme and final authority of the state over all persons and associations within its territory, distinguishing it from external sovereignty, which is independence from other states.

Legitimacy

The belief of the governed that a ruler's power is rightfully held; it differs from legality, since a legal government can still lack popular legitimacy.

Pluralist theory of sovereignty

The view that sovereignty is shared with associations and groups, so the state is only primus inter pares rather than the sole absolute authority.

Rigid constitution

A constitution whose amendment requires a special procedure beyond ordinary legislation, such as a supermajority or ratification by states, as in the United States.

Constitutionalism

The doctrine that government power must be limited by law and accountable to the people, safeguarded by separation of powers, rule of law, and judicial review.

Parliamentary government

A system in which the executive is drawn from and collectively responsible to the legislature, with a ceremonial head of state and a prime minister holding real power.

Separation of powers

Montesquieu's doctrine that legislative, executive, and judicial functions should be assigned to distinct organs so that power checks power and tyranny is prevented.

Judicial review

The power of courts to examine laws and executive actions for conformity with the constitution and to declare them invalid if they violate it.

First-past-the-post system

An electoral system in which the candidate with the most votes in a single-member constituency wins, even without an absolute majority; it tends to produce two-party competition.

Proportional representation

An electoral system allocating seats in proportion to votes won, often through party lists or the single transferable vote, typically producing multi-party coalitions.

Functions of political parties

Interest aggregation, recruitment of leaders, formulation of programmes, voter mobilisation, and linking citizens to government through organisation and contestation.

Jus sanguinis

Acquisition of citizenship by descent from a citizen parent, in contrast to jus soli, which grants citizenship by birth on the territory.

Rawls difference principle

The rule that social and economic inequalities are justified only if they benefit the least advantaged members of society, chosen behind a veil of ignorance.

Positive liberty

Freedom to act and develop one's potential, requiring enabling conditions, as distinguished from negative liberty, which is freedom from interference.

Fraternity

A sense of brotherhood and solidarity among citizens that underpins social cohesion and the dignity of the individual, pledged in the Indian Preamble.

Internationalism

The view that states and peoples are interdependent and should cooperate through international law and institutions, without necessarily abolishing national identity.

Constituent Assembly

The body formed under the Cabinet Mission Plan that first met on 9 December 1946 and adopted the Indian Constitution on 26 November 1949.

Article 32

The constitutional right to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of fundamental rights, which Ambedkar called the heart and soul of the Constitution.

Directive Principles

Non-justiciable guidelines in Articles 36-51 directing state policy toward social and economic democracy, drawn partly from the Irish Constitution.

Basic structure doctrine

The principle from Kesavananda Bharati (1973) that Parliament cannot amend the Constitution so as to destroy its essential features, such as judicial review and federalism.

Money bill

A bill dealing with taxation or public expenditure that can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha and requires the President's recommendation.

Seventh Schedule

The constitutional schedule dividing legislative powers into the Union List, State List, and Concurrent List, with residuary powers resting with the Union.

Karnataka Legislative Council

The permanent upper house of the state legislature, one-third of whose members retire every two years, complementing the directly elected Legislative Assembly.

73rd Amendment Act

The 1992 amendment giving constitutional status to rural local government, mandating a three-tier panchayat structure and listing 29 subjects in the Eleventh Schedule.

Gram Panchayat

The lowest tier of rural local government at the village level, constituted by direct election and responsible for civic and developmental functions.

Panchsheel

The five principles of peaceful coexistence agreed between India and China in 1954, including mutual respect for sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs.

UN Security Council

The UN organ with 15 members, including five permanent members holding veto power and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.

Non-alignment

India's policy of not joining military blocs during the Cold War, aimed at preserving strategic autonomy rather than maintaining neutrality between the superpowers.