Verified official syllabus source

University of Delhi — B.A. (Hons.) Political Science — official course contents PDF

Semester I papers and unit structure as published in the official Department of Political Science course contents, effective from the academic year 2011-2012 onwards.

Open official syllabus

Academic batch: 2024-25
Last reviewed: 2026-10-01
Curriculum source: University of Delhi
Syllabus effective: Academic Year 2011-2012 onwards

The batch above is the student cohort this material is mapped to. The effective period is stated by the official document itself — check your college's current syllabus before relying on either.

Important questions

Important Questions — Paper II: Understanding Political Theory

B.A. (Hons.) Political Science · Semester I · University of Delhi

These questions are written for this site from the official unit structure. They are original study material, not extracted from any past paper. Each unit has a question set, and every question carries the points an answer should cover.

Course applicability

University: University of Delhi
Programme: B.A. (Hons.) Political Science
Semester: Semester I
Course component: Core Discipline Paper
Subject: Political Science
Paper: Paper II: Understanding Political Theory

Marks pattern (official): Max Marks 100 = Theory Exam 75 + Internal Assessment 25. Teaching: 5 lectures + 1 tutorial per week (main papers).

Long-answer questions

Short-answer questions

Units covered

100

Paper marks

How to use this page. “Long answer” questions expect an argued response with at least four developed points. “Short answer” questions expect a definition plus one line of application. Write the answer points as a skeleton, then expand each point into a paragraph of roughly 60–80 words.

Introducing Political Theory

Unit 1 · 30 published lectures · 4 questions

Long answerQ1.1

Distinguish between the normative, historical and empirical approaches to political theory.

Show answer points (5)

Normative: asks what ought to be — evaluates political arrangements against a standard of the good or the just.
Historical: asks how we arrived here — explains political ideas and institutions as products of their period.
Empirical: asks what is — describes and explains observable political behaviour and data.
Note that the approaches are complementary: a complete analysis of a political question usually needs all three.
Common error to avoid: treating empirical as the only valid approach. Political theory without normative questions cannot say what is wrong with an arrangement.

Read unit 1 notes →

Long answerQ1.2

Describe the four traditions of political theory named in the syllabus and state the core concern of each.

Show answer points (5)

Liberal — individual liberty and its protection through rights, law and limited government.
Marxist — class, material conditions and the structures of economic power.
Anarchist — the illegitimacy of the state and the possibility of order without it.
Conservative — tradition, authority, community and the limits of deliberate social change.
Close by noting these are ideal types; real texts usually combine elements.

Read unit 1 notes →

Short answerQ1.3

Why does political theory need to theorize "the political"?

Show answer points (2)

Because before you can study politics you must decide what counts as political and what falls outside it.
Drawing that boundary determines which questions are political questions at all — so the boundary is an analytical act, not a neutral one.

Read unit 1 notes →

Short answerQ1.4

What do feminist and post-modern perspectives contribute to political theory?

Show answer points (3)

Feminist theory questions whose experiences and interests mainstream theory treated as universal.
Post-modern theory questions whether any single, stable account of power or meaning is possible.
Both challenge mainstream theory's exclusions rather than adding one more tradition to the list.

Read unit 1 notes →

Political Theory and Practice: The Grammar of Democracy

Unit 2 · 30 published lectures · 3 questions

Long answerQ2.1

Compare procedural democracy and deliberative democracy as accounts of democratic value.

Show answer points (5)

Procedural: value lies in rules that guarantee inclusion and majority decision — elections, rights, rule of law, competition.
Its characteristic critique is that participation becomes thin and mechanical — citizens choose, and that is treated as sufficient.
Deliberative: value lies in the quality of public reasoning — democratic legitimacy requires reasoned discussion among equals.
State the tension: deliberation is slow and can exclude, procedures are fast and can be empty.
Conclude that most contemporary accounts combine them — procedures to secure inclusion, deliberation to secure substance.

Read unit 2 notes →

Long answerQ2.2

Examine the relationship between participation and representation in democracy.

Show answer points (5)

Participation: citizens act directly in the decision process — direct democracy, or involvement between elections.
Representation: citizens authorise others to decide on their behalf — the standard mechanism of modern democracy.
The relationship is one of substitution: representation substitutes for direct participation because direct democracy is not scalable.
The problem: representation aggregates and simplifies preferences, so some interests may be systematically under-weighted.
Argue the two must be judged together — a system with only participation cannot govern, and one with only representation is unaccountable.

Read unit 2 notes →

Short answerQ2.3

Why is the "history of democracy as an idea" relevant to political theory rather than merely to political history?

Show answer points (2)

Because the meaning of the democratic idea has changed, and each change answers a different normative question about legitimacy.
Understanding the idea's development is how we identify which democratic values are in tension today.

Read unit 2 notes →

Back to Paper II hub Revision sheet PYQ hub Unit 1 notes Unit 2 notes

Important Questions — Paper II: Understanding Political Theory

B.A. (Hons.) Political Science · Semester I · University of Delhi

Course applicability

University

University of Delhi

Programme

B.A. (Hons.) Political Science

Semester

Semester I

Course component

Core Discipline Paper

Subject

Political Science

Paper

Paper II: Understanding Political Theory

Marks pattern (official): Max Marks 100 = Theory Exam 75 + Internal Assessment 25. Teaching: 5 lectures + 1 tutorial per week (main papers).

Introducing Political Theory

Unit 1 · 30 published lectures · 4 questions

Long answerQ1.1

Distinguish between the normative, historical and empirical approaches to political theory.

Show answer points (5)

Normative: asks what ought to be — evaluates political arrangements against a standard of the good or the just.
Historical: asks how we arrived here — explains political ideas and institutions as products of their period.
Empirical: asks what is — describes and explains observable political behaviour and data.
Note that the approaches are complementary: a complete analysis of a political question usually needs all three.
Common error to avoid: treating empirical as the only valid approach. Political theory without normative questions cannot say what is wrong with an arrangement.

Read unit 1 notes →

Long answerQ1.2

Describe the four traditions of political theory named in the syllabus and state the core concern of each.

Show answer points (5)

Liberal — individual liberty and its protection through rights, law and limited government.
Marxist — class, material conditions and the structures of economic power.
Anarchist — the illegitimacy of the state and the possibility of order without it.
Conservative — tradition, authority, community and the limits of deliberate social change.
Close by noting these are ideal types; real texts usually combine elements.

Read unit 1 notes →

Short answerQ1.3

Why does political theory need to theorize "the political"?

Show answer points (2)

Because before you can study politics you must decide what counts as political and what falls outside it.
Drawing that boundary determines which questions are political questions at all — so the boundary is an analytical act, not a neutral one.

Read unit 1 notes →

Short answerQ1.4

What do feminist and post-modern perspectives contribute to political theory?

Show answer points (3)

Feminist theory questions whose experiences and interests mainstream theory treated as universal.
Post-modern theory questions whether any single, stable account of power or meaning is possible.
Both challenge mainstream theory's exclusions rather than adding one more tradition to the list.

Read unit 1 notes →

Political Theory and Practice: The Grammar of Democracy

Unit 2 · 30 published lectures · 3 questions

Long answerQ2.1

Compare procedural democracy and deliberative democracy as accounts of democratic value.

Show answer points (5)

Procedural: value lies in rules that guarantee inclusion and majority decision — elections, rights, rule of law, competition.
Its characteristic critique is that participation becomes thin and mechanical — citizens choose, and that is treated as sufficient.
Deliberative: value lies in the quality of public reasoning — democratic legitimacy requires reasoned discussion among equals.
State the tension: deliberation is slow and can exclude, procedures are fast and can be empty.
Conclude that most contemporary accounts combine them — procedures to secure inclusion, deliberation to secure substance.

Read unit 2 notes →

Long answerQ2.2

Examine the relationship between participation and representation in democracy.

Show answer points (5)

Participation: citizens act directly in the decision process — direct democracy, or involvement between elections.
Representation: citizens authorise others to decide on their behalf — the standard mechanism of modern democracy.
The relationship is one of substitution: representation substitutes for direct participation because direct democracy is not scalable.
The problem: representation aggregates and simplifies preferences, so some interests may be systematically under-weighted.
Argue the two must be judged together — a system with only participation cannot govern, and one with only representation is unaccountable.

Read unit 2 notes →

Short answerQ2.3

Why is the "history of democracy as an idea" relevant to political theory rather than merely to political history?

Show answer points (2)

Because the meaning of the democratic idea has changed, and each change answers a different normative question about legitimacy.
Understanding the idea's development is how we identify which democratic values are in tension today.

Read unit 2 notes →

Verified official syllabus source

Course applicability

Introducing Political Theory

Political Theory and Practice: The Grammar of Democracy

Continue your revision

Verified official syllabus source

Course applicability

Introducing Political Theory

Political Theory and Practice: The Grammar of Democracy

Continue your revision