B.A Political Science

Course Details

• Intake : 42
• Duration : 6 Semester
• Type : Regular
• Examination : Semester

AIMS OF BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

The main objective of the course is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the discipline to the students who join the BA(H) at the undergraduate level in the university and colleges of India. The program aims at making the students understand the fundamental concepts, theories, perspectives, and ideological discourses in Political Science. This will enable them to explain and evaluate the functioning of political systems and governments of diverse kinds with their institutions, structures, and ideologies. Building a better society to live in has been a perennial question which all the disciplines of knowledge have pondered over and worked on, including Political Science.

PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Aim of the course is to expose the students to the diverse political philosophies, from the ancient to modern times, and how have they envisioned of and engaged with the issues of rights, liberty, equality, justice, citizenship, constitution, and constitutionalism, etc.
• The objective is also to train the students in understanding the public administrative system and public policy science.
• 3.The course also exposes the students to the interdisciplinary modules to demonstrate the interconnectedness of the discipline with other subjects and areas which don't form the core of Political Science, yet very much conjoining its boundaries.
• 4.The objective is also to understand the national interests of India in comprehensive terms and Indian endeavours and response to emerging challenges and issues in a fluid and dynamic global scenario.
• 5.The course has been designed in such a way that every student is equipped with certain practical skills which can be used for seeking gainful employment if one exits after completing the graduation. 6.The aim is also to train the students in research design and application of tools and techniques for empirical and normative research.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

Political Theory –I: BAHPLSC101 (HONOURS) After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Students will be able to learn key concepts needed to understand the political phenomenon and the various approaches to the study of politics.
• They will come to know about the concept of the state and diverse theories regarding the nature of the state.
• They will be able to explain the debates on the distributive theory of justice.
• They will come to understand and explain different theories and contemporary debates in democracy.

Comparative Politics: BAHPLSC102 (HONOURS)

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• The students will be able to understand and apply different approaches to explain the functioning of different types of governing regimes..
• They will be able to understand the scope and purposes of comparison..
• They will be able to study various theories of political system. d.They will come to understand the concept of political development and political modernisation.

Political Theory –II:BAHPLSC201 (HONOURS)

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Students will be able to learn the details of the Marxist approach to the study of politics..
• They will come to know about the concept of the relative autonomy of the state..
• They will be able to explain the theory of revolution as understood by Lenin and Mao..
• They will come to understand and explain Marxian theory of Party.

Comparative Constitutional Systems: BAHPLSC202(HONOURS)

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to: a. The students will be able to understand the different typologies of constitutional systems to explain the functioning of different types of governing regimes. b. They will be able to understand the role of legislature with special reference to the role of second chambers in UK and USA.

Western Political Thought – I: BAHPLSC301 (HONOURS)

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• They will come to understand the evolutionary background of Western Political thought.
• Students will be able to explain the fundamentals of Greek and Roman Political Thought.
• They will be able to explain the key ideas of Aristotle and Plato.
• They will know about the concept of statecraft and secularization of politics as explained by Machiavelli.

Indian Political Thought: BAHPLSC302(HONOURS)

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• They will understand the Saptanga theory of State as explained by Kautilya.
• Students will be able to explain Vivekananda’s concept of Ideal society.
• They will be able to explain the key ideas of Gandhi.
• They will be able to explain how Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra understood and explain Indian Nationalism. They will also come to know why Tagore was critical about the western concept of Nationalism.
• They will come to know about the concept of social justice as opined by Dr B.R. Ambedkar.

Political Sociology: BAHPLSC303(HONOURS)

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Students would acquire conceptual clarity on the concept of sociology of politics and its nature and scope.
• Students would learn about various concepts like power, influence and authority.
• They would know about the role played by political parties and pressure groups.
• They would appreciate the importance of political socialization and its impact on the practise of politics.

Public Opinion and Survey Research: BAHPLSSE301

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Students would acquire conceptual clarity on the concept of public opinion and the tools for assessing public opinion..
• Students would learn the methods and techniques of data collection from the field..
• They would know where and how to apply the tools of sampling and other methods like interviewing and preparing questionnaire..
• They will be able to predict the elections results based on data applying the techniques of polling research..

Western Political Thought – II: BAHPLSC401 (HONOURS)

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• They will come to have knowledge about the major works and contributions of eminent political thinkers.
• Make a distinction among Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau on the state of nature, the law of nature, nature and form of contract and the emergence of state from the contract.
• Students would learn the key ideas in Marxism.
• They will be able to discern the meaning of utilitarianism and how Bentham and Mill differed from each other.

Indian Government and Politics: BAHPLSC402(HONOURS)

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Appreciate the Role of the Constituent Assembly in framing the Constitution of India.
• They will be able to answer how constituent assembly decided about our National flag, National song, and Anthem
• Know about the fundamental rights and how these rights are different from the directive principles of the state policy.
• They will be able to explain the emerging trends in Indian Federalism.
• They will be able to answer questions pertaining to the function and role of the President, Prime Minister, Parliament and the courts in the Constitutional design of India.
• Students will be able to explain the structures, powers, and functions of three organs of government and their mutual relationship and engagements.

Basic Theories of International Relations BAHPLSC403

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Familiarization with the key concepts of the discipline of IR.
• Understanding of the various approaches like Realism, Liberalism and World Systems Theory to the study of International Relations.
• Knowledge about Important techniques of implementing foreign policy.

Legislative Practices and Procedures: BAHPLSSE401

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Students will be able to know how the bills are drafted and presented in the parliament and state legislatures and what are the stages they pass through before becoming a law.
• Students will be able to know about the role of the various legislative committees in the Parliamnet and how they make an effective contribution to the parliamentary debates and legislative businesses.
• The students would know the overview of how budget i.e., annual financial statement is introduced and passed in both the Houses of the Parliament. World Politics: Organizations and Issues:

BAHPLSC501 After the completion of course,

the students will have ability to:

• Have an historical understanding of the era of the cold war
• Gain an understanding about the role of United Nations and its major organs with special reference to General Assembly and Security Council.
• Study the concept of regionalism through the working of regional organizations like SAARC and ASEAN.
• Reflect on the major issues grappling the post Cold war world with special focus on terrorism, environment and human rights.

Basic Theories of Public Administration: BAHPLSC502

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• The students will be able to make a difference between the public administration and private administration.
• They will be able to explain the journey of discourse in public administration in the sense of it evolution.
• What is bureaucracy as explained by Karl Marx and Max Weber.
• They will be able to explain what is the decision-making approach of Herbert Simon?
• They will be able to explain the concepts and theories on motivation, leadership and conflict management in the organization.

Human Rights: Theory and Practice: BAHPLSDSE501

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• The student will be able to explain the meaning of human rights and examine human rights issues in different social, political and cultural contexts.
• The students will be able to relate human rights with other rights of individuals and study the inclusion of these rights in the Indian Constitution.
• They will come to know how terrorism impacts human rights.
• Students will be able to examine and explain the role played by the National Human Rights Commission to uphold and protect human rights.
• They will come to know about the evolution and nature of human rights movements in India.

Social Movements in Contemporary India:BAHPLSDSE502

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Students would be able to answer what are social movements
• They will be able to make a distinction between the old and new social movements.
• To theoretically reflect on the significance of social movement by studying the nature of various types of movements including peasants, tribals and environmental movements. Local

Government in West Bengal: BAHPLSC601

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Understand the evolution of rural and urban local selfgovernment in West Bengal since Indian independence.
• Develop an understanding of the structure and functions of rural and urban local self- government through a detailed reading of two major Amendments i.e., the 73rdAmendment Act,1992 and 74th Amendment Act,1993.
• Appreciate the role played by these local self-government units in the empowerment of women, SCs and STs.

Understanding Global Politics: BAHPLSDSE601

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• Reflecton the evolution of the state system and the concept of sovereignty.
• Critically analyse the working of the global economy and the role played by various international institutions like World Trade Organization,IMF, World Bank.
• Understand the concept of global poverty and the various initiatives taken at the international level to attain sustainable development as reflected in the Millenium Development Goals and Sustainable

Development Goals. Environmental Politics: BAHPLSDSE602

After the completion of course, the students will have ability to:

• To develop a deeper understanding about the concept of environment, its living and non-living components and the philosophy of environmentalism.
• To develop an awareness about the various environmental challenges/issues faced by the entire world which involves both developing and developed countries.
• To critically evaluate the current paradigm of development based on rapid industrialization and to shift the focus on alternative paths to development especially the concept of sustainable development.
• To analyse the role of public policy at the national and international level with regards to the protection and management of environmental issues along with an emphasis on collective efforts locally, nationally and globally.