Department of Political Science

Overview

The Political Science courses help discard a narrow, descriptive view of the world. To study ‘politics’ or to refer to the notion of ‘political’ does not imply the simplistic understanding of governmental institutions and their functions. Rather, it refers to analyzing and interrogating the myriad interactions with power in everyday life. The Department of Political Science makes students lean towards critical and independent thinking, equipping them with tools to engage with contemporary socio-political issues.

Teaching and Learning

The Department offers core and elective papers to students of BA Multidisciplinary Studies and Honours courses. The courses are designed and taught in a manner that inculcates analytical skills and encourages students to open up to new ways of thinking and to question patterns that are otherwise easily accepted in society.

Experiential learning, activities, and workshops, along with discussions in tutorial classes and excursions to institutions and museums, make the courses offered by the Department interesting and interactive.

Students are taught concepts and modern political thinkers in Political Theory; the analysis of institutional rationale and themes in Indian Government and Politics; theories and critical inquiry into international events in International Relations; an understanding of different political systems in Comparative Government and Politics; an introduction to Public Administration; and an assessment of international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and NGOs while studying globalization.

Course Structure

In the BA Multidisciplinary Studies, students can opt for Political Science as one of their two disciplines and pursue it as a Major or Minor. Some of the papers offered by the Department to BA students include Introduction to Political Theory, Indian Government and Politics, Comparative Government and Politics, and Public Institutions in India, among others.

The Department also offers elective courses to Honours students of other disciplines. Some of the highly popular elective courses offered by the Department are Nationalism in India, Ideas in Indian Political Thought, and Western Political Philosophy.

For Honours students, the Department of Political Science offers the most sought-after papers each semester. Under UGCF-2022, Honours students can also opt for Political Science papers from a pool of Value Addition Courses (VAC) and Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC).

Papers such as Introduction to Public Policy, Women in Indian Politics, and Politics of Globalization are more popular, as their course content provides varied theoretical perspectives, engages with new debates in these fields, and remains contemporarily relevant.

Career Progression/Scope

The students who have graduated from the Department have been excelling in different domains such as academia, public policy, civil services, and politics, to name a few. Most of them have secured admission to postgraduate studies in premier institutions in India and abroad, such as Jawaharlal Nehru University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Sciences Po.

A few of the distinguished alumni also work with international organizations like the United Nations.