M.A. Programme The Centre for Political Studies admits at present about 75 students (excluding direct foreign admissions) to the M.A. programme each year. Students in the M.A. programme are required to study 16 courses, of 4 credits each, over a four­semester period. In the first semester of the programme, students study four compulsory courses and in the subsequent semesters two compulsory and two optional courses each. Students are encouraged and generally tend to opt for optionals offered at the Centre and in the other Centres of the School of Social Sciences. Currently the Centre’s course list has 32 optional courses from which students may choose, depending upon their interest and future plans. They may also choose to study optional courses in other Schools and special Centres. The ten compulsory courses are defined around 3 broad sub­fields: 1) Political Theory and Philosophy; 2) Indian Government, Politics and Public Policy; and 3) Comparative Politics and International Relations. Within the M.A. programme, 4 of the 10 compulsory courses fall within the stream of Indian Politics and cover a wide canvas, from nationalist thought to development policy, in addition to the more customary grounding in political institutions and processes. A large majority of optional courses also belong to this stream and provide students with the opportunity for a more intensive study of political ideas in modern India, public institutions, political parties, pressure groups, regional politics, social movements, centre­ state relations, development policy and administration. 3 of the 10 compulsory courses in Political Theory cover a body of seminal ideas that form normative benchmarks of public life or inform political process, and introduce students to certain original writings of great political thinkers. A more specialized fare is offered by way of optional courses in democratic and liberal theory, Feminism, Social Injustice, Multiculturalism, Marxism and Hermeneutic Philosophy. Two compulsory papers on Comparative and International Politics revolve around the debates on perspectives, concepts, processes and institutions that inform these subfields. A few optional papers that focus on globalisation, political economy, civil society, state, nationalism, labour relations and conflict studies supplement these sub­fields. A compulsory course in Research Methodology is intended to secure analytical mastery over basic concepts, approaches, and introduces students to the basic tools and technique of research. The credit requirement for the award of M.A. degree, as prescribed in the University ordinances, is 64. In case a student wishes to offer more courses than the minimum number prescribed he/she may do so by offering them as non­credit courses. He/she has to declare in advance the title of the non­credit course and no transfer from non­credit course to credit course is permitted. Students may repeat a course once to improve their grade with the prior permission of the Centre and subject to the total number of courses per semester. If a student fails in an optional course he/she can be permitted to offer another course in its place. In accordance with School policy, the Centre permits repetition of courses only when the grade obtained is B or below. When a student is allowed to repeat a course, he/she is required to sign a declaration prescribed by the School that the grade obtained by him/her earlier in the course may be cancelled. Consequently, if he/she actually repeats a course the grade obtained in it will be treated as final. Repeating a course involves fulfilling all the requirements of the course afresh as no credit for the work done previously is carried over. Under the semester system followed in the University, students are required to register at the beginning of each semester for the course, which they wish to offer in that particular semester. The Centre may appoint a faculty adviser for each student who advises on the courses to be taken. No student is allowed to attend a course without registration and is also not entitled to any credits unless he/she has been formally registered for the course by the scheduled date. However, late registration is allowed in exceptional cases. In the evaluation system adopted by the Jawaharlal Nehru University in the “letter grade” system an assessment is made of the student’s performance throughout the semester on a continuous basis. The objective of the letter grading system is to provide a measure of the student’s performance in each course. Each letter grade is given a numerical value for computing the semester and cumulative averages. The main features of this evaluation system are: (a) It helps evaluate a student’s performance on a continuous basis throughout the semester in a course, and the assessment is done by several observations such as day­to­day performance in classrooms, home assignments, tutorials, seminars, term papers and mid­ semester tests, besides the end­semester examination. (b) The final grade is awarded at the end of a semester after taking into account the totality of the student’s performance in the above aspects and not on the basis of a single final examination as is conventionally done. The evaluation is done on the 10 points scale on a pattern that regulates the entire JNU evaluation system. M.Phil. / Ph.D. Programme The Centre has two separate research programmes: the Master of Philosophy Programme leading to the award of M.Phil. degree and the Doctor of Philosophy Programme leading to the award of the Ph.D. degree. The Centre at present admits about 40 students to the M.Phil programme each year. The M.Phil. programme is spread over four semesters and students are expected to complete the course work in the first two semesters. Students must obtain a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.00 to be eligible to register themselves for the IIIrd semester of the programme. A student who obtains a CGPA of less than 5.00 in the Course work is not eligible to submit his/her dissertation. A student needs to secure an aggregate CGPA of not less than 5.5 in course work and dissertation to obtain M.Phil. degree and a minimum of 6 CGPA (5.5 for SCs and STs) to be eligible for Ph.D. registration. A student admitted to the M.Phil. programme must offer four courses two of which are compulsory. The compulsory courses are: (1) Philosophy and Methods in Social Sciences. (2) Approaches, Concepts and Methods of Political Analysis. The two compulsory courses are designed to equip and train students in the methods and techniques of political research, the methodological debates and issues in social sciences, as well as the basic approaches and concepts of political analysis. The third and fourth courses, are optional courses, which students may select in consonance with their research interests. The choice of the optional would be decided by the research needs and specialization stream chosen by the student. Students can enter the Ph.D. programme after successful completion of the M.Phil. programme or directly. The University invites applications for the direct Ph.D. programme twice in a year at the end of each semester. Progress of students in each semester of the M.Phil./Ph.D. programme is closely monitored by the faculty. They are expected to make a presentation of, at least part of, their work before the faculty prior to the final submission of their Ph.D. Within the three broad areas of Political Theory and Ideologies, Indian Government and Politics, Comparative Politics and International Relations, the Centre seeks to promote research on the following themes. • Democracy, Citizenship and Human Rights • Social Justice • State, Development and Public Policy • Civil Society and State • Political Ideas in Modern India • Media and Politics • Political Institutions • Theories of Change and Transformation • Legitimacy, Protest and Change • Federalism and Decentralization • Diversity and Difference • Religion and Politics • Justice, Community and Culture • Secularism, the Nation­State and Minority Politics • Social and Political Movements • Politics of Caste, Class, Communalism and Regionalism • Multiculturalism and Identity Politics • Dalit Movements and Politics • Gender and Politics • Environmental Politics • Electoral Politics • Political participation, Political Parties and Pressure Groups • Comparative Study of Regional and State Politics in India • Local Politics and Panchayati Raj Institutions • Development Administration • Neo­Liberalism and Globalization • Issues of National Security • Foreign Policy of India B. A. Courses The Centre offers two optional courses in a year one each in a semester, to students pursing their B.A. Programme in the School of Languages. They are (1) Political Ideas and Ideologies (Winter Semester) (2) Indian Government and Politics (Monsoon Semester) Revision of Course A substantial revision of the M. A Programme of study was undertaken during 2007­2008 and the school of Social Science approved the same in its Board Meeting on 18.11.2008. In the revision compulsory courses have been reduced from 12 to 10; there has been a major overhaul in the content of the courses in Political Philosophy and a distinct approach to the teaching of Political Ideas in Modern India is proposed. A substantial revision of the four courses in Indian Politics and a closer bonding of the courses in Comparative and International Politics have been proposed too. There is a pronounced emphasis on empirical research, quantitative and qualitative, in the course, Methods in Social Sciences. Care has been taken to bring about integration of the different sub­fields and courses to enable a student to make better political analysis and formulate a comprehensive, and as far as possible systematic, view of public affairs. The new compulsory Political Philosophy courses will revolve around a body of concepts and themes. Political Philosophy I will discuss five sets of twin concepts, where one requires the other to make sense of them.