RBSE SS Political Science key terms

The prolonged geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union after 1945, marked by ideological conflict, nuclear arms racing, alliance blocs, and proxy wars rather than direct large-scale combat between the two superpowers.

A grouping of states founded at Belgrade in 1961 that refused to join either Cold War bloc, seeking independent foreign policy, anti-colonial solidarity, and greater voice for developing countries in world affairs.

A phase of relaxed tension between rival powers, especially the United States and Soviet Union in the 1970s, expressed through arms control treaties, summits, and expanded dialogue instead of confrontation.

A pattern in which states try to prevent any single actor from becoming dominant by shifting alliances, building capabilities, or supporting counterweights, so that no one can dictate to the rest.

A country's capacity to make foreign and security decisions according to its own national interest, without being dictated to by allies or patrons, while still cooperating with partners where useful.

A foreign policy approach in which a state builds simultaneous partnerships with several major powers and groupings rather than committing exclusively to one camp, maximising options and bargaining leverage.

Five principles of peaceful coexistence agreed between India and China in 1954, covering mutual respect for sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference, equality, and peaceful settlement of disputes.

The de facto boundary between Indian- and Chinese-controlled territory that has never been formally demarcated, making it a recurring source of military standoffs and border tension.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, founded in 1985, which brings together South Asian states for regional cooperation but is often hampered by India-Pakistan tensions.

India's post-1991 strategy of deepening economic, diplomatic, and security ties with Southeast and East Asia, later broadened as the Act East Policy, to match its growing economic interests.

The UN organ with primary responsibility for international peace and security, having five permanent members with veto power and ten elected non-permanent members serving two-year terms.

The authority of each permanent member of the UN Security Council to block any substantive resolution, a privilege that shapes UN decision-making and is a target of reform demands.

Proposals to expand the Security Council's membership and change its working methods, including permanent seats for regions such as Africa, Latin America, and Asia, with India among the claimants.

UN operations deploying multinational forces, usually with consent of the parties, to monitor ceasefires, protect civilians, and stabilise post-conflict situations; India has been a leading troop contributor.

The principle that an armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, who then act together to restore peace, as embodied in the UN Charter's enforcement provisions.

A 1968 treaty restricting nuclear weapons to five recognised states and committing others not to acquire them, while promising disarmament and peaceful nuclear cooperation; India never signed it.

A treaty prohibiting all nuclear explosive tests, opened for signature in 1996 but not in force because key states have not ratified; India has not signed, citing security and equity concerns.

A declared nuclear doctrine under which a state promises not to use nuclear weapons first, retaining them only for retaliation; India adopted this posture while keeping options open on massive retaliation.

A security concept focused on protecting individuals from hunger, disease, repression, and environmental harm, rather than only defending state borders against external military threats.

Long-term shifts in global temperatures and weather patterns driven mainly by greenhouse gas emissions, raising issues of mitigation, adaptation, and equity between developed and developing countries.

Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, balancing economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection.

The growing interconnection of economies and societies through trade, investment, technology, migration, and communication, which spreads opportunities while also creating new vulnerabilities and inequalities.

The reduction of state controls over economic activity, such as licensing, tariffs, and price regulation, to allow market forces and private enterprise a larger role in production and exchange.

India's 1991 policy package of liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation, adopted during a balance-of-payments crisis, which dismantled much of the licence-permit system and opened the economy.

Investment by a firm or individual in productive assets or businesses in another country, usually bringing capital, technology, and management control, as distinct from short-term portfolio flows.

The pre-1991 Indian system in which industrialists needed government licences and approvals to start, expand, or diversify production, often criticised for bureaucracy and slow growth.

Successive national development plans from 1951 that set targets for growth and social goals, guided by the Planning Commission; the series ended in 2017 with the shift to NITI Aayog.

An economic system combining public and private ownership, where the state runs key sectors and regulates markets while private firms operate in many industries, as adopted by post-independence India.

A strategy from the late 1960s using high-yielding seed varieties, irrigation, fertiliser, and credit to raise foodgrain output, which made India self-sufficient in food but widened regional disparities.

The body elected in 1946 to frame India's Constitution, which debated and adopted it between 1946 and 1949 and also functioned as the provisional parliament until the first general election.

The redrawing of Indian state boundaries along language lines, especially after the 1953 Andhra creation and the 1956 States Reorganisation Act, balancing cultural identity with national unity.

A party system in which one party wins repeated majorities and forms government for long periods while opposition parties exist legally but cannot realistically replace it, as with the Congress until 1977.

Government formed by two or more parties sharing power, usually through a common minimum programme, which became the norm in India from the late 1980s as no single party won a majority.

Identification with and loyalty to a particular region or state, which can take cultural or political forms and may demand greater autonomy, resources, or even separate statehood within a country.

A campaign by a regional or ethnic group seeking greater self-government, constitutional safeguards, or control over local resources within the existing state, rather than outright independence.

A demand or movement to break away from an existing state and form a separate sovereign country, which states generally treat as a threat to territorial integrity and national unity.

A commission appointed in 1979 that recommended reserving public jobs for socially and educationally backward classes; its 1990 implementation triggered intense nationwide debate over caste and equity.

Provisions reserving seats or posts in education, employment, and legislatures for disadvantaged groups, justified as compensatory justice and contested over merit, efficiency, and the definition of backwardness.