ISC Class 11 Political Science Syllabus

ISC Class 11 Political Science Syllabus

ISC Class 11 Political Science syllabus is structured as per ISC guidelines and is available for students on Extramarks. Students may register online on Extramarks to access the syllabus and clear all doubts. In addition to the  ISC Class 11 Political Science syllabus, students can also refer to ISC and ICSE syllabus, ICSE Solutions, ICSE sample question paper, ICSE revision notes and ICSE important questions on Extramarks.

Introduction to Political Science

Political Science explains government and legislative processes to deepen human understanding so that people can be informed about policies that impact their country. It is a classical discipline; hence the subject requires a lot of care. For a diverse choice of career, students need a good hold on the subject, and the ISC Class 11 Political Science syllabus helps lay that foundation. The chapters included in ISC class 11 Political Science syllabus will help the students better understand the subject.  

An Overview of the ISC class 11 Political Science Syllabus

The ISC Class 11 political science syllabus has two sections: Section A and Section B. A tabular representation of the ISC Class 11 political science syllabus is as under.

Students may click on the chapter names to access the study material for the respective topic.

ISC Class 11 political science syllabus Section A consists of eight chapters, and section B consists of four chapters. 

SECTION A: Political Theory

1. Introduction to Political Science

• Interpretation of Political Science
  • Scope of present-day Political Science,Political Theory, Relative Politics, International Relations, Public Administration and Political Economy. The character of Political Science.
  • Scope of contemporary Political Science concerning Political Theory. The character of Political Science – Is Political Science referred to as Science?

• Fundamental Concepts
  • State and its elements; Dissimilarity between State and Society, State and Association, State and Government, State and Nation; Nationality
  • Explanation of State, elements of the State: Population, Territory, Government, Sovereignty.
  •  Definition of Society; Association; Nation and nationality. 

2. The Origin of the State

• Divine Origin Theory 
  • A brief history
  • Divine virtue of the kings – cases from modern monarchical states example: England and Bhutan. 
  • Evaluation of the theory.

• The Social Contract theory
  • Vision of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau
  • Evaluation of the theory.
• Evolutionary Theory
  • Factors for the broadening of this theory such as kinship, religion, economic factors, wars and conflicts 
  • The requirement for political power.

3. Political Ideologies

• Liberalism, Socialism; Communism and Fascism: Meaning, features regarding the purpose of the State. 
• Critical evaluation of each ideology.

4. Sovereignty

• Meaning, kinds and characteristics. 
• Historical analysis and current issues, interpretation, definition and features. 
• Types
  • Titular and Real
  • Legal and Political; 
  • De-jure and de-facto Sovereign
  • Popular Sovereignty. 
• Is Sovereignty absolute and indivisible? 
• A brief study of Austin’s Theory and Pluralistic view of Sovereignty about Laski and MacIver. 
• Sovereignty all around the World: the role of non-state actors.

5. Law

• Meaning and definition of law.
• Sources – Customs, Religion, Usages, Scientific Commentaries, Judicial Decisions, Legislation, Equity. 
• Kinds of Law – definition and examples of Municipal, National, International and Constitutional Law, Statute Law, Ordinances.

6. Liberty

• Definition and meaning of Liberty
• Dimensions – positive and negative
• Kinds of Liberty – Political, Civil and Economic Liberty. 
• Relationship between law and Liberty: Does law help or hinder liberty? 
• Safeguards of Liberty – fundamental rights. Separation of judiciary from the executive, well-set party system, economic justice for one and all, free media and press, attentiveness by the individuals.

7. Equality

• Meaning and kinds of Equality – social, legal, political and economic
• The relationship between Equality and Liberty and Equality: How do they complement each other?

8. Justice

• Meaning of Justice
• Kinds: Economic, Political, social and Legal. 
• Theories of Justice – John Rawls and Amartya Sen.

SECTION B: Contemporary International Relations

9. End of Cold War and its Impact on the World Order

• The disintegration of the Soviet Union and its effect on the World Order.
• A brief overview of the Cold War. 
• Effect of disintegration of the Soviet Union on the World Order – end of Cold War conflict
• Change of power equations in world politics
• The Rise of new countries.

10. Unipolar World

• U.S. unilateralism: case studies of U.S. intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq
• Interpretation of unilateralism.
• Case studies
•  Iraq – Operation Desert Storm
• Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Afghanistan – Operation Enduring Freedom.

11. Regional Cooperation

• The European and Asian Union, Aims, achievements and challenges.

12. The Non-Aligned Movement

• Relevance of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the contemporary World.

ISC Class 11 Political Science Syllabus Paper Pattern

The  ISC Class 11 political science syllabus also defines the paper pattern as detailed below.

Paper I (Theory) – 80 Marks

Paper 1 consists of two parts. Part 1 is of 20 marks and includes compulsory short answer questions, testing knowledge, application and skills relating to fundamental aspects of the whole syllabus.

Part 2 is of 60 marks and is divided into two sections, A and B. Students must answer three questions out of 5 from Section A and two out of 3 from Section B. Each question in part 2 carries 12 marks.

Paper-II (Project Work) – 20 Marks

Candidates will be required to do one project on any one of the following:

• A case study
• Survey study with a questionnaire
• Research-based project with in-depth analysis
• Local/national/global political issue
• Film/Book review/documentaries/posters/newspapers/advertisements/cartoon and art.

The project must not be based on the syllabus. Instead, students must produce original, creative and insightful viewpoints on an allied aspect of the topic.