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PSIR Optional at ForumIAS by Amit Pratap Singh

Topic: Theories of the State

9 August 2026

Comment on the pluralist theory of the state in about 150 words.

Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 state holds no monopoly of power → one association among many, mediator not command centreRoute 2 society is plural → authority…

9 August 2026

What is the Marxist and liberal approach towards the state? On what grounds are the theoretical differences between them premised? Explain.

Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 both ask what the state is and whom it serves → opposite starting points: individual vs classRoute 2 liberalism from individual…

9 August 2026

Comment on the neo-liberal perspective of the state.

Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 neo-liberalism = revival of 19th-c economic liberalism → market over stateRoute 2 late-1970s welfare-state crisis → “market fundamentalism” → roll back…

9 August 2026

Critically examine the neo-liberal theory of the State.

Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 market-centred theory → not abolition but rollback of welfare → state as facilitator of marketsRoute 2 revival of 19th-c liberalism →…

9 August 2026

Comment on the pluralist theory of the state.

Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 revolt against monistic sovereignty → state = one association among manyRoute 2 reaction to Hegelian statism → society a web of…

9 August 2026

Comment on the post-colonial theory of the state in about 150 words.

Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 post-decolonisation, sovereign but built on inherited colonial apparatus → Brar’s relabelingRoute 2 modern apparatus grafted onto a non-modern base → category…

9 August 2026

Comment on the feminist critique of the state in 150 words.

Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 reject state-as-neutral → law / policy carry male powerRoute 2 state looks impartial → feminism exposes its gendered foundationsBody flowpublic-sphere myth…

9 August 2026

Examine the liberal theory of the State in contemporary politics.

Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 individual primary → state by consent to protect liberty / rights / property → claim of limited, neutral state now strainedRoute…

9 August 2026

Discuss the Feminist theory of the State.

Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 state is no neutral arbiter → male power built into law, bureaucracy, welfareRoute 2 “personal is political” (Hanisch) → public-private divide…

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