ISC Class 12 Political Science Syllabus 2023-24

CISCE has released the Latest Updated Syllabus of the New Academic Session 2023-24, for class 12.

Class 12th Syllabus has been released by CISCE. It’s very important for both Teachers and Students to understand the changes and strictly follow the topics covered in each subject under each stream for Class 12th.

We have also updated Oswal Gurukul Books as per the Latest Paper Pattern prescribed by Board for each Subject Curriculum.

Students can directly access the ISC Political Science Syllabus for Class 12 of the academic year 2023-24 by clicking on the link below.

PDF download links to the latest Class 12 Political Science Syllabus for 2023-24 academic session

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ISC Political Science Class 12 Latest Syllabus 2023-24

  1. To enable students to gain an understanding of basic concepts in Political Science.
  2. To facilitate acquisition of knowledge and understanding of the practices of governance.
  3. To develop logical reasoning, research and application skills.
  4. To create awareness of rights and duties and to sensitise students towards social concerns.
  5. To expose students to divergent views and encourage them to develop their own world view.

There will be two papers in the subject:

Paper I: Theory 3 hours ------ 80 marks

Paper II: Project Work ------ 20 marks

S.No. Unit Topic Sub-Topic Marks
SECTION A - Constitution and Government
80
1 Forms of Government Totalitarian and Authoritarian States, Liberal Democratic State, Unitary and Federal States, Parliamentary and government. Meaning and features of Totalitarian State, Authoritarian State and Liberal Democratic State.
Comparison between Totalitarian and Authoritarian States. Historic and contemporary examples of each.
Meaning and features of Unitary and Federal States with reference to U.K. as a Unitary state, U.S.A. as a Federal State and India as a federal state with subsidiary unitary features, comparison between unitary and federal state.
Meaning and features of Parliamentary and Presidential forms of government (U.K. and U.S.A.). Comparison between Parliamentary and Presidential forms of government.
2 Constitution Meaning; kinds of Constitutions: Written and Unwritten, Rigid and Flexible, Enacted and Evolved: merits and demerits. Amending procedures; Conventions. Meaning; kinds: Written and Unwritten, Rigid and Flexible, Enacted and Evolved: merits, demerits of each. Is the difference between Written and Unwritten, Rigid and Flexible a real one?
Amending procedures of the Constitutions of U.K., U.S.A and India.
Conventions: meaning and examples with reference to U.K., U.S.A. and India. The importance of Conventions in U.K.
3 Franchise and Representation Universal Adult Franchise; Methods of Election; Constituency; Minority Representation. Political Parties; Party System. Universal Adult Franchise - meaning, reasons for widespread acceptance.
Methods of Election: Direct and Indirect - meaning with examples.
Meaning of Constituency, Single member and Multi-member with examples. .
First Past the Post System - meaning, merits and demerits.
Minority Representation - meaning, rationale (Why is it important for minorities to be represented properly).
Methods of Minority Representation - Proportional Representation (List system and single transferable vote system), Cumulative Vote System, Nomination and Reservation.
Political Parties - meaning, definition and functions. Kinds – Single party, Bi-party, Multiparty system - meaning, merits and demerits.
Organs of the Government
4 The Legislature Functions of Legislature; Unicameral and Bicameral legislatures. The legislature in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study. Meaning and functions of Legislature. Meaning of Unicameral and Bi-cameral legislature. The legislatures in India and U.S.A.- Composition (strength, method of election and tenure) and functions: legislative, constituent, executive (ways in which the legislature controls the executive), judicial, electoral and financial.
Composition and powers of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (including special powers).
Unique powers of the Senate, why is the Senate considered the world’s most powerful second chamber?
Comparison of the Rajya Sabha and the U.S. Senate; Lok Sabha with the U.S. House of Representatives.
5 The Executive Functions; The Civil Services. Difference between the Political Executive and the Permanent Executive. Political Executive in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study. Meaning, and functions of the Executive. Meaning and role of Civil Services.
Difference between the Political and Permanent Executive in India. Political Executive in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study. Powers and functions of executive heads of India (President and Prime Minister), and U.S.A. (President). Constitutional limitations on the powers of the President of the USA.
Changing role of the Indian Prime Minister with reference to the past two decades.
6 The Judiciary Meaning and functions of Judiciary. Conditions of Independence of Judiciary. Judiciary in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study. Judicial Review. Meaning and functions of judiciary; conditions of independence of judiciary with reference to India and U.S.A. The Judiciary in India and U.S.A. – composition and powers of Indian Supreme Court and American Supreme Court. Judicial Review – meaning, principles (maxims) and critical evaluation with special reference to U.S.A. and India. Meaning of Judicial Activism and Judicial Restraint. Comparative study of Indian and US Supreme Courts - Which is most powerful and Why?
SECTION B- Indian Democracy
80
7 Indian Constitution (i) Preamble Preamble and its importance. Meaning of the key words contained in the Preamble.
(ii) Salient features of the Indian Constitution. Written and Comprehensive; a Constitution drawn from several sources; Federal structure with Unitary spirit; Partly rigid and Partly flexible; Fundamental Rights and Duties; Directive Principles of State Policy; Parliamentary form of Government; Single Citizenship; Bi-cameral legislature; Universal Adult Franchise; Single Integrated and Independent Judiciary; Judicial Review; Emergency powers; Special provisions for Schedule castes and Schedule tribes
8 Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy. Fundamental Rights: meaning and importance of Fundamental Rights; detailed study of all Fundamental Rights in India.
Directive Principles of State Policy: meaning and purpose; classification, implementation.
Relationship between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy.
9 Local self-government 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts. Key features of the 73rd and 74th Amendments.
Three tier systems of Panchayati Raj: Rural and Urban local bodies - their composition. Challenges and solutions.
10 Democracy in India – a perspective of the challenges faced Challenges faced by the Indian Democracy: Caste, Communalism, Regionalism and Political Violence. Strengthening Indian Democracy. Caste: meaning, role of caste in Indian Politics.
Communalism: meaning and effects on the functioning of Indian democracy.
Regionalism: meaning and causes; kinds of regional aspirations (language issues, sonsof-the-soil policies, river water disputes, demand for new states, secessionist demands); responding to regionalism; strengthening the federal structure.
Political Violence: meaning, forms, causes and effects.
Strengthening Indian Democracy: measures to overcome the challenges faced by Indian Democracy.

2022-23 Reduced Syllabus

(for reference purposes only)

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