Indian Government and Politics

By Dr. Aijaz Ashraf Wani | University of Kashmir, Srinagar

Learners enrolled: 5862

The course “Indian Government and Politics” is a core course in B.A. Political Science under the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS). The course is specially designed to supplement and enhance the understanding of students about the philosophical, theoretical and functional aspects of Indian Polity. The course starts from the varied perspectives regarding Indian Political System followed by the Constitutional provisions and Social Movements in India.

The objectives of this course are to give the target students/audience an understanding of:

➢ Fundamentals of Indian Political System analyzed from varied perspectives

➢ Philosophical basis of Indian Constitution

➢ Working of Indian Constitution as a living document

➢ Theoretical Basis and Practices of Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Rights as available in the Constitution

➢ Institutional Structure and functions of Indian Polity

➢ Social Issues in India and Political Responses to approach them

➢ Political Economy of Indian State

➢ Nature and Purpose of Social Movements in India

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Core
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points :	4
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	07 Sep 2020
End Date :	21 Nov 2020
Enrollment Ends :	14 Oct 2020
Exam Date :

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1

Day 1 Approaches to the Study of Indian Politics

Day 2 Nature of Indian State: Liberal Perspective

Day 3 Nature of Indian State: Marxist and Gandhian Perspectives

Day 4 Constituent Assembly: Overview

Week 2

Day 1 Constituent Assembly: Debate

Day 2 Basic Features of Indian Constitution

Day 3 Ideological Basis of Indian Constitution: Democracy, Secularism and Socialism

Day 4 Fundamental Rights in Indian Constitution: Classification and Content—Part I

Week 3

Day 1 Fundamental Rights in Indian Constitution: Classification and Content—Part II

Day 2 Introduction to the Directive Principles of State Policy

Day 3 Classification of Directive Principles of State Policy

Day 4 President: Powers and Functions

Week 4

Day 1 Prime Minister— Appointment, Powers, Functions and Role

Day 2 Prime Minister— Features and Role

Day 3 Parliament of India— Origin, Functions and Composition

Day 4 Parliament of India— Thoughtful Choice, Committees and Sovereignty

Week 5

Day 1 Independence of Judiciary in India

Day 2 Judicial Review— A conceptual framework

Day 3 Judicial Review in India

Day 4 Judicial Activism in India

Week 6

Day 1 Public Interest Litigation

Day 2 Federalism in India— Part I

Day 3 Federalism in India— Part II

Day 4 Governance, Decentralization and Panchayati Raj

Week 7

Day 1 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts

Day 2 Election Commission of India

Day 3 Electoral Reforms in India

Day 4 Planning in India

Week 8

Day 1 Party System - A conceptual framework

Day 2 Party System in India

Day 3 Pre-Independence Women’s movement in India

Day 4 Post-Independence Women’s movement in India

Week 9

Day 1 Political Participation of Women in India

Day 2 Caste and Power in India

Day 3 Dalit movement – Emergence and Contours

Day 4 Religion and Politics in India

Week 10

Day 1 Peasant movement in India—Theoretical Enigma and Practical Politics

Day 2 Peasant movement in Colonial and Post-Colonial India

Day 3 Workers Movement in India

Day 4 Environmental Movement in India—Part I

Week 11

Day 1 Environmental Movement in India—Part II

Day 2 Development Strategies in India

Day 3 Neo-Liberalism and Economic Reforms in India –Part I

Day 4 Neo-Liberalism and Economic Reforms in India—Part II

Books and references

1. Niraja Gopal Jayal and Pratap Bhanu Mehta. (2011) The Oxford Companion to Politics in India, Oxford University Press, India.

2. Bidyut Chakrabarty and Rajendra Kumar Pandey. (2008) Indian Government and Politics, Sage Publication, India.

3. Himanshu Roy and Mahendra Prasad Singh. (2012) Indian Political System, 4th Edition, PEARSON India.

4. Pravin Kumar Jha. (2012) Indian Politics in Comparative Perspective, Pearson Education India.

5. Abhay Prasad Singh and Krishna Murari. (2019) Political Process in Contemporary India, Pearson Education India.

6. Niraja Gopal Jayal. (2007) Democracy in India (Themes in Politics), Oxford University Press.

7. Neera Chandhoke & Praveen Priyadarshi. (2011) Contemporary India – Economy, Society, Politics, PEARSON India.

8. Rajni Kothari. (2012) Politics in India, 2nd Edition, , Orient BackSwan, India.

9. Granville Austin. (1999) The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of A Nation, Oxford University Press.

10. Atul Kohli and Prerna Singh, (ed.). (2013) Routledge handbook of Indian politics, Routledge.

11. B.L Fadia. (2010) “Indian Government and Politics” Agra: Shohitya Bhawas Publications.

12. Basu, Durga Das. (1985), Introduction to the Constitution of India (Prentice-Hall, New Delhi..

13. Sujit Choudhry, Madhav Khosla, And Pratap Bhanu Mehta, (ed.), (2016), The Oxford Handbook Of The Indian Constitution, Oxford University Press.

14. Kohli, Atul. (1990), Democracy and Discontent: India’s Growing Crisis of Governability, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,.

Instructor bio

Dr. Aijaz Ashraf Wani

University of Kashmir, Srinagar

Aijaz Ashraf Wani (Ph.D), is Senior Assistant Professor at Department of Political Science, University of Kashmir. He holds Doctorate degree in Political Science from the University of Kashmir. He is author of “What Happened to Governance in Kashmir?”, Oxford University Press, 2019. His basic research interests include, Governance and Public Policy, J&K Politics, Indian Politics, South Asia, India-Pakistan Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies. He has contributed in building knowledge with more than 23 research papers and book chapters published, among others, by SAGE, Routledge, Oxford, Orient Blackswan and Palgrave Macmillan. He received fellowship for the Study of US Institutes, by US government. He has attended number of national and international conferences representing and deliberating on the contemporary political issues of Kashmir, India and South Asia. He has visited number of countries including USA, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia etc. He is currently part of some national network projects on Electoral Politics and Local Governance. He is member of various Associations and committees like CSDS, New Delhi, All India Political Science Association, National Book Trust etc. Dr. Aijaz recently completed a major research project sponsored by ICSSR, New Delhi and is working on another Major Research Project funded by ICSSR. Besides he has also completed number of minor projects on Electoral Studies sponsored by CSDS, New Delhi.