Polity Syllabus and Strategy for UPSC Prelims

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Polity is a crucial subject and an integral part of the UPSC civil services exam. Whether
it is for the UPSC prelims or the mains examination, polity is a vital part of the syllabus.
It is one subject from which many questions are asked every year. As we have seen that
the Union Public Service Commission has changed the pattern and syllabus of the exam
and as per the current trend more questions are application based and require
analytical understanding. In spite of the changes in the overall UPSC Examination
Pattern, the scope of Polity will be central. In this article, you will read about how to
cover Polity syllabus and study well for the UPSC exam.

What is Polity?
The scheme or system of government is called polity. The subject Polity completely
deals with the functioning of the government in the country. This gives an in-depth
understanding of the executive, legislative, judicial systems and various constitutional
authorities in the country.

Polity Syllabus for UPSC Preliminary Examination

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The UPSC examination syllabus for Polity Prelims is given here:

Political system
Indian polity and governance- Constitution
Rights Issues, Panchayati Raj Public Policy, etc. The syllabus for preliminary
examination is concise.

How to Prepare Polity Syllabus for UPSC Prelims?

Polity is an imperative and essential topic for all three stages of the exam, Prelims,
Mains, and Interview. To make the subject easy for you, here we provide some key
mantras to crack the exam.

Cover everything about the Constitution, individual’s rights, duties and

responsibilities to structure, functions, powers, and responsibilities of various
institutions of administration.
Read all the related articles systematically and try to understand what every
article is trying to say.
Read as much as you can, as it will help you to remember things in a better way.
Prepare short-notes with highlighted keywords/points and relate them to a
current issue in a pragmatic way.
Must ensure that you are preparing only to crack UPSC exam not to master over a
topic. So, read the articles which are relevant to the syllabus only.
Refer to the UPSC previous year papers and sample papers and start solving
questions.

Polity Syllabus for UPSC Prelims Exam

Below you can find the comprehensive topics of UPSC Preliminary Polity Syllabus.

Topics Polity Syllabus

Preamble Terms in the Preamble

42nd Amendment
Swaran Singh committee

Constitution of Historical Background

India Drafting committee and making scheme of the
Constitution
Influence of other constitutions
Its salient features
Union and its Territory (Basic idea about Article 1-4,
Federal nature, State reorganization and different
Commissions, Recent issues)

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Citizenship Basic idea about Article 5-11
PIO, NRI, OCI and Pravasi Bharathiya Divas
Citizenship Amendment Act 2016
Schemes, new policies, and recent changes in voting.

Fundamental Basic idea about Article 12-35

Rights 44th amendment act
Different types of Writs
Enforcement and Exceptional cases with regard to FR’s
Recent issues related to FR

Fundamental Article 51A

Duties Difference between FR and FD
Significance and Criticism
Enforcement of FD’s
Recent issues about FD

Directive Basic idea about Article 36-51 and Article 368

Principles of Sources and key features of DPSP
State Policy Classification of DPSP
Comparison or conflicts between Fundamental Rights and
Directive Principles
Keshavananda Bharathi, Golaknath Case, Minerva Mills,
Maneka Gandhi case.
Important Amendments- 42nd Amendment, 44th
Amendment, and 97th amendment

Union Basic idea about Article 52-73

Qualification and Election of President and vice-president
Function and Powers of president- (Executive, Legislative,
Financial, Judicial, Diplomatic, Military and Emergency
Powers)
Prime minister and council of minister
Resignation and impeachment of president
Role and responsibilities of Prime minister, Cabinet
ministers, Council of Minister.
Resignation and Removal of vice president
Powers and Functions of Council of ministers
Attorney general

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Parliament Basic idea about Articles related to Role and functions of
the Parliament
Motions, Sessions, Parliamentary procedure – Zero Hour,
Summoning, Prorogation, and Joint sitting.
Parliamentary proceedings like Adjournment Motion, and
Question Hour etc.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,
Special powers of Rajya Sabha
Anti-defection law and 10th schedule
Parliamentary Privileges
Bill and law making procedure
Budget, funds and its summary
Parliamentary Committees

Judiciary Basic idea about the judiciary.

Powers of High Court and Supreme court
Qualification and appointment
Removal procedure
Recent controversy, verdicts, and constitutional provisions.

State Governor- appointment, and special powers.

Government- Executive, Legislative, Financial, Judicial powers and
State Executive discretionary powers of the governor
7th constitutional amendment
Chief minister and the council of ministers
Power of chief minister

State State legislature compared to the Parliament with regard to

Legislature powers, composition, and functions.
Bicameral legislature
Creation and abolition of the Legislative councils

Administration Basic idea about 5thSchedule and 6th Schedule

of Special Recent problems related to Administration of Special Areas
Areas Special provision for states Article 371

Emergency National emergency- Article 352

Provisions President’s rule or State emergency- Article 356
Financial emergency- Article 360
44th amendment act
Effects and implications of emergency
Role of President in emergency time
The State of FR, Lok sabha, and Rajya sabha
Revoking emergency

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Panchayati raj Elections, auditing, powers and authority of panchayats
and 3 tier structure
municipalities 73rd Amendment Act and 74th Amendment Act
Relation with FR and DPSP
Schemes introduced
Metropolitan planning committee and urban development
Reservation

Constitutional Election Commission

Bodies UPSC
SPSC
JPSC
Finance Commission
National Commission for SCs and ST’s,
Composition, Powers and functions, Removal of the
Constitutional bodies

Current Affairs Recent issues related to above-mentioned categories

Important schemes, programs, missions, laws, and policies
launched by the government.
Recent Government Bills and Governance- actions

Exam Preparations: Reference Source for Polity Syllabus

Go for NCERT books (Class XI - Political Science: Indian Constitution at Work
(New), Class XII - Political Science I: Contemporary World Politics (New), Class
XII - Political Science II: Politics in India since Independence(New)).
Read Newspapers like The Hindu, and Yojana and Kurukshetra Magazines.

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