PSIR - Strategy, resources & discussion
Hi peeps. Let’s do this!
1. Previous papers from 2009 (both papers are in the same PDF):here2. Topic-wise PYQs: here
3. Look for PDFs of books here: b-ok.cc, http://libgen.rs/, archive.org
4. Model answers from SR:here
5. OnlyIAS notes, if you need extra matter for a few topics:here
6. SR notes, typed:politicsforindia.com
@nerdfighter I'm really sorry yar. Maine dhyaan hi ni diya :(
nerdfighter,thesleepyhead
Has anyone read Huntington's Waves of Democracy idea apart from what is in SR notes? Did he talk about a 3rd Reverse Wave?-- it's not mentioned in the notes
EDIT: He might not have, considering his book is called Third Wave, and was written in 1990. Have any other scholars referred to a "crashing" of the Third Wave? I'm interested because in the notes we're considering Arab Spring as the beginning of the 4th wave.
EDIT2: Will you consider investing time in Huntington's theory for 2A (Democracy in Contemporary Global Concerns)? SR just gives a scorecard- kahan democracy aayi, kahan democracy giri -__- but Huntington actually goes into the reasons behind the emergence of the Wave, and the process through which existing authoritarian regimes collapse
This seems to have been published a few months before his book in 1991. Check out the 7th page of the pdf.
https://www.ned.org/docs/Samuel-P-Huntington-Democracy-Third-Wave.pdf
And yup, seems like a worthwhile investment for 2A. Given the surge of protests in different countries, a question on democratisation would not be surprising!
Turns out that I had already read this paper. I mean, I'm sure I opened it, not sure I got that far in. Thanks for reminding me ( that too with page number!). This helps a lot!
whatonly,I too think it’s under politics of representation and participation. The question is directly talking about participation and asking for examples, which makes me think they want less general theory (which Huntington’s would be) and more specific reasons.
How would you guys answer?
Didn't we discuss this in our Telegram group? I have some good points written down
>Perceived low value of vote: Dominant party syste, Pragmatic turnover system- both lack substantive choice; In FPTP- wastage of votes;
>Voter Apathy: Corruption, Criminalisation, loss of legitimacy of state eg National Unity govt of Afghanistan
>High cost of voting: recent voter suppression laws passed in US, migrants' vote in India
>Loss of social capital : R.Putnam points out that voting is a social activity and loss of SocCap leads to reduced turnout
>Voter Fatigue: Excessive use of referendums
>Lack of "Participant Political Culture"
Looking at this question now reminds me of Social Contract Theory.Can this point be linked ? Are we done with present contract and seeking new, is this the case for low turnout ?
If I'd use Social Contract, I'd use it in the intro, i.e. low turnout signifies a break down of contract. The answer needs to be spent explaining WHY the contract is breaking
Jammu,
@Villanelle This is a gem, how is it not widely known !
Villanelle,whatonly
@Villanelle This is a gem, how is it not widely known !
Sabko scheme batane ki kya jarurat thi :p
I'm UPSC 2021 aspirant and I thought of preparing optional by self study and thought if I feel need coaching I would take it after mains 2021 for 2022, if I couldn't crack without coaching. Mains 2021 was scheduled in September, so I thought I would join oct batch.
But now mains would be in January mid, means if I go without coaching for UPSC 2021, I won't be able to go for coaching as batch after mains will start in Feb 2022 ending in July 2022.
So I'm really confused. I'm thinking to join batch starting from July 2021 ending in Jan 2022.
I know it's late, but this seems the best choice as of now.
Am I thinking on right lines?
If you join regular coaching right now for a 2021 attempt you’ll find it very difficult to manage whether you join in July or later. The speed at her regular classes is very different compared to the speed required to finish the syllabus while writing mains. You will need at least 3 revisions with notes made to get a decent grip of PSIR for writing mains. Whereas with the coaching classes you will not even be able to cover the entire syllabus once. Besides, you will also need to write tests given that this is your first attempt. The general gap between each test for most TS is 2 weeks. Which means in 2 weeks you will be expected to complete one section of one paper at least. The classroom course (bear in mind I did it in 2017) took 2 and a half months to cover just Plato alone, which is merely a subtopic of one section of one paper. Look at the cost benefit ratio and it’s not enough time to do the coaching. Your safest bet would be to purchase her notes ASAP and go through them by yourself. I’ve heard there are TG lectures of SR which you can listen to while reading the notes (I think someone on this thread itself suggested it) and work in this time to create a deep conceptual understanding with your own value addition. The rest is your call entirely.
@Hercules_15 I think if you can read and understand PSIR 1-A by yourself, you should not join any coaching. I was part of her course this year, and after PSIR 1-A, she just gave us printed notes and read through them most of the times. Even PSIR 1-A is just 80% dictation. And she'll spend way too much time on 1-A and you'll start praying to god that this thing gets over. It doesn't leave much time to do other things as you do classes and revise stuff. Also this is your first attempt, so may not be too sure about GS too. Notes are 95% of the value that SR adds. Try to get the latest notes. Do them well. If you don't understand anything, there is yt channel which has uploaded her audio lectures, listen to them. But only selectively.
And you don't know if the course gets finished on time. I joined in June and the course was supposed to end in December and it ended in April. We complained that PSIR isn't the only thing we have to do & she replied, "Jinhe prelims nikalna hota hai woh nikaal lete hai." Everyone in my batch is so angry with her.
@DeekshitaP Lecture 28 & Plato wasn't done.
I can see that you are a gamer!
Not really. Haven't played a game since I was in school. It's such that I type a lot. And I would like to buy a mechanical keyboard someday but paisa nahi hai utna. So, till that time, a semi mechanical keyboard. I love typing on it tho.
Ali abdaal?
Didn't we discuss this in our Telegram group? I have some good points written down
>Perceived low value of vote: Dominant party syste, Pragmatic turnover system- both lack substantive choice; In FPTP- wastage of votes;
>Voter Apathy: Corruption, Criminalisation, loss of legitimacy of state eg National Unity govt of Afghanistan
>High cost of voting: recent voter suppression laws passed in US, migrants' vote in India
>Loss of social capital : R.Putnam points out that voting is a social activity and loss of SocCap leads to reduced turnout
>Voter Fatigue: Excessive use of referendums
>Lack of "Participant Political Culture"
Oh yes! I remember now. These should be more than enough! I wonder if some examples we saw of COVID mishandling will also one day be characterised as detracting from state legitimacy.
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