Indian Polity Notes Which You Shouldn’t Miss!

This post is a compilation of our most viewed notes on Indian Polity, which we think our readers should not miss. Readers can download the each of the notes as PDF for free using the ‘print-pdf’ option. Check Indian Polity notes category, if you want to read the complete archives.

Learn Indian Polity: Must Read Articles

Indian Constitution (basics)

• Historical background of Indian Constitution.
• Constitution of India: List of All Articles (1-395) and Parts (1-22).
• Indian Constitution Parts and Articles.
• Parts of Indian Constitution: A brief overview.
• Schedules of Indian Constitution: A brief overview.
• Must Know Articles of Indian Constitution: A brief overview.

Indian Constitution (topics in the same order)

The below mentioned posts follow the same order of Constitution of India and hence we strongly suggest all aspirants to follow the same for easy comprehension. Then build your concepts with respect to the three organs of the state, ie Executive, Legislature and Judiciary by reading the posts below.

• Preamble of the Constitution.
• Union and its Territory.
• Citizenship.
• Fundamental Rights.
• Directive Principles of State Policy.
• Fundamental Duties.
• President.
• Vice-president.
• Prime Minister, CoM and Attorney General.
• Parliament.
• Supreme Court.
• Governor.
• Chief Minister and CoM.
• State Legislature.

Executive

• President of India – Discretionary Powers You Never Knew Existed!

Legislature

• Sessions of Parliament: Adjournment, Prorogation, Dissolution etc.
• When Does a Bill Lapse in Indian Parliament?
• Types of Majorities Used in the Indian Parliament.
• Parliamentary Committees in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• Important Parliamentary Committees in Detail.
• Election to Rajya Sabha: The Procedure.
• Government Budgeting: Indian Budget for Beginners.
• Budget Documents Made Simple: Key to Budget Documents.
• Difference between Full Budget and Vote on Account.
• Cut Motions: Policy Cut, Economy Cut, and Token Cut.

Judiciary

• Procedure Established by Law vs Due Process of Law.
• Capital Punishment, Mercy Pleas and the Supreme Court.
• Judicial Review vs Judicial Activism vs Judicial Overreach.
• Contempt of Court: Time for a relook?
• The Problem of Pending Cases in Indian Courts: How to tackle?
• The Problem of Excessive Government Litigation

Fundamental Rights

• Procedure Established by Law vs Due Process of Law.
• Fundamental Rights vs Directive Principles: What if there is a conflict?

Center-State Relations

1. Inter-State Council vs National Development Council.
2. NITI Aayog: The new ‘think-tank’ to replace Planning Commission.

Local Self Government

• Evolution of Local Self-Government (Panchayati Raj System) in India

Policies, Bills and Acts (Statutes)

• Representation of Peoples Act 1950 and 1951.
• Right To Information Act 2005.
• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005.
• Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STI) 2013.
• Indian Companies Act 2013.
• Anti-Defection Law: Is it time for reconsideration?

Governance

• 100+ Government Schemes and the Implementing Ministries.
• Role of Civil Services in a Democracy.
• Functions of an IAS Officer.
• Mechanisms, Laws, Institutions and Bodies for Vulnerable Sections.
• Sevottam Model.

Social Justice

• Major Tribes in India: State-wise compilation.

What should you understand by the term Polity?

For ease of convenience it’s always mentioned as polity, but UPSC syllabus for Prelims elaborate this topics in a few more words, ie. “Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.” Undoubtedly, Constitution is the most important topic under Indian Polity. Apart from that new bills, laws, governance issues etc. should also be studied.

Books to Study Indian Polity

• Indian Polity for Civil Services Examinations – M. Laxmikanth is a really useful book for all stages of examinations.
• Introduction to the Constitution of India by Durga Das Basu – A much more authoritative text on Indian polity. Good reference material for Supreme Court judgments, but beginners may find it tough.
• Our Parliament by Subhash Kashyap.
• India Year Book.
• Class 11 and 12 NCERT textbook of Political Science, especially, ‘Indian Constitution at work’.

Additional Books for IAS Mains

For polity, governance, social justice and foreign relations topics for mains, certain new books are available in the market. Links for them are given below:

1. IAS Mains General Studies Paper 2 (Arihant Manual – GS2).
2. Governance in India for CSE – Laxmikanth (Governance – GS2).
3. Pax Indica – Shashi Tharoor (Foreign Policy – GS2).
4. India and the World by Surendra Kumar (Foreign Policy – GS2).

Our approach and advice!

ClearIAS has prepared a lot of free online resources to supplement your Indian polity preparation. If you want to get a comprehensive idea about Indian Constitution and its 395 articles, start from the mega-post: Constitution of India: List of All Articles (1-395) and Parts (1-22). We have tried to cover in detail, each article of Indian Constitution, explaining the non-constitutional or current affairs associated with each article.

Then, browse our posts which will help you to build concepts regarding the three organs of state – executive, legislature and judiciary. Apart from Indian Polity notes, check the tag ‘notes for IAS Mains GS2 paper‘ which includes study materials written specially from the UPSC CSE main exam point of view.