Pooja Ranawat (UPSC CSE 2017 : AIR 258)

Dear Aspirants

We are Presenting an extremely useful Strategy on Political Science discretionary by Pooja Ranawat ma'am,

Top scorer in Political science discretionary!

(319 Marks!)

Political Science_Ideal / Real approach

Hey all,

I anchored AIR 258 in CSE 2017 and scored 319 imprints, the most noteworthy in Political Science and International Relations this year. In this article, I'd get a kick out of the chance to impart to you the procedure and key focuses that helped me in concentrate the subject sensibly well. I have isolated this article into three sections :

1. Booklist

2. Notes

3. Answer Writing.

My score in Paper 1: 162 | Paper 2: 157 | Total : 319/500

1.Booklist I alluded to:

1. Present day Indian Political Thought by Chakrabarty and Pandey

2. IGNOU notes (for a few scholars and ideas in Section 1A)

3. Oxford Companion to Politics by Jayal Mehta (specifically for Section 1B)

4. Baylis and Smith ( Globalization and different themes in Section 2A)

5. Shubra maam's notes (one book for each area 1A 1B 2A 2B)

6. Shubra maam's brief training class notes and Toppers understood papers

2.Key focuses to note:

1. Know the whole syllabus by heart. Characterize obviously and confine the material that you will consider for the exam.

2. The inquiry answer configuration of contemplating helps in understanding the subjects much better. This strategy is exceedingly prescribed to every one of those thinking that its hard to outline answers.

3. Get ready smaller scale notes of the whole investigation material. Get ready four such separate envelopes for each section(1A 1B 2A 2B). Gather the given material with the goal that it winds up less demanding to change before the real exam.

4. Dissect and concentrate in detail the inquiries in earlier year's UPSC papers. Start composing answers to these inquiries itself. Let these earlier year's inquiries be on your fingertips alongside the sub-headings.

5. Group 7-8 focuses for every territory of the syllabus and subject. Try not to wrongly go in for aggregating information from numerous sources or perusing from different sites. This makes the procedure significantly more tedious and protracted.

6. For a learner, allude to topper's fathomed answer booklet, think about their way to deal with various types of inquiries and the organization and organizing of answers.

7. Keep in mind that masterminds, defenders and their statements are your key devices to composing a smart response. Begin making linkages in your brain about a mastermind and his/her zone of concentrate ideal from the underlying long stretches of arrangement.

8. Focus on your examination to the need of the exam instead of collecting insightful information on that specific subject. Be particular, pick and pick deliberately what meets your necessity of the appropriate response and push forward. (predominantly in setting of every day daily paper articles, recently distributed books regarding that matter, any sites on International relations proposed by companions).

3.Preparing notes

1. Plan notes in a perfect and compact configuration saying the key scholars, cites/explanations made by them, feedback and evaluates, a couple of books and the primary essence of what is being examined in that point.

2. Set a due date and finish the arrangement of notes at the most punctual. Get ready so as to not need to return to the first material once more. These notes ought to be the sole material to update before the exam.

3. Confine the information for one subject to a couple of pages greatest.

4. Try not to leave any piece of the syllabus for need of substance or disregard some inquiry as it was rehashed in earlier years.

5. While getting ready notes, make an endeavor to include some novel purposes of your own to a given subject (any information that you have perused, current issues contextual analysis, another book).

4.Practise stage:

1. Compose, compose and compose . Composing practice will make you unmistakable headed, exact and sharp. Work on illuminating whatever number inquiries as could be expected under the circumstances so you get the skill of detailing focuses rapidly in your brain and putting them down on paper.

2. Significance of modification : As specified above, Making of notes is deficient without thorough correction. Modify and Re-reexamine. Disguise the ideas. Have a go at contemplating them plainly about how we see its application in day by day life.

3. Comprehend the masterminds and their thoughts in a way you can disclose it basically to your companion. Such lucidity will help you eventually in handling any sort of question.

4. While you rehearse, think about from notes and give tests, there will absolutely be a few zones which you passed up a great opportunity. As opposed to peruse a whole 9-10 pages on that from a reference book, allude to toppers settled answer booklet and order vital focuses. This spares your chance in the most recent long periods of study and keeps any resultant frenzy and dread of confronting an obscure 'new' question.

5. Speed of composing and finishing the paper is similarly essential. Work on defining and composing answers at first and after the prelims result, tackle in a period bound condition. Guarantee that you can finish the paper completely.

6. Illuminate no less than 9-10 full length question papers and get them assessed. Space out the tests with the goal that you can see your expectation to absorb information. Try not to disregard changing the arrangements in the wake of giving the tests.

7. Make an endeavor to utilize the hypothetical ideas of paper 1A and 2A in paper 1B and 2B separately. Set up interlinks and develop the aptitude of utilizing these ideas uninhibitedly between the given segment of any one paper(eg; Social constructivist approach of Paper 2 - Section 2A can be utilized while composing an answer on India-Pak-Russia hub in Section 2B)

5.While composing the Main exam:

1. Organizing of the appropriate responses is as vital as the substance. Presentation and determination is an absolute necessity.

2. Endeavoring the whole paper with clear great penmanship ought to be the need.

3. Likewise, Right choice of the discretionary inquiries to be endeavored in the exam is additionally extremely vital. While question 1 and 5 are mandatory, the other three should be such where you can compose your best answers. The exam condition and time limitation may result in wrongful determination of inquiries which essentially impacts the general imprints.

4. Specify key scholars, contextual analyses and statements in your answers and set up specific insights/information for Paper 2B and International relations.


All things considered, when looked with an apparently troublesome or concealed inquiry, think from a political science perspective. Give ideas a chance to like Sovereignty, State, Power, Government, Justice, Equality, Democracy and Rights frame the center of your reasoning while at the same time composing any answer in this subject (This approach will separate your answer from the generalist GS 2 nation based inquiries approach).

My own particular learning has been that in the exam condition, one composes well just that which is obviously and emphatically comprehended by the brain. All the repetition learning and a minute ago hacks are overlooked during the time spent written work rapidly and completing the paper. In this manner, my earnest counsel is – Revise completely, predominantly being referred to answer organization and work on composing broadly so the themes turn out to be increasingly imbued in your muscle memory. This learning of the 'Craft of Replicating' will unquestionably take you towards the Ideal.

   May the Athenian soul be with you!