KSLU Solved Question Papers
Political Science (Theory and Thought)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 1
2026 Jan Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 1 Political Science (Theory and Thought) 2026 Jan Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2026 Jan examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2026 Jan examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2026 Jan examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/problems is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit 1
(a)Explain the meaning and scope of the study of Political Science.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the three senses of the word "politics"; two or three definitions; the difference between political science and political sciences; the scope under five fields with Indian examples; the boundary with sociology; and a conclusion.
Meaning: three senses of "politics"
The word politics comes from the Greek polis, the city-state. Garner points out that the word is used in three senses.
- As a science. It is the systematic study of the state, which gives us "a mass of theoretical knowledge concerning the state".
- As an art. It is the practical work of governing, which "seeks solutions of concrete problems".
- In a narrow, partisan sense. In everyday speech it means "electioneering methods", the struggle of parties for votes.
Political science is the first sense: the systematic study of the state and government.
Definitions
- Garner: "political science begins and ends with the state."
- Paul Janet: it is "that part of social science which treats of the foundations of the state and the principles of government."
- Leacock: "political science deals with government."
Is it a science?
Comte denied that politics is a science, because experts disagree, its development is not continuous, and it cannot predict. Garner replies that a science is a unified body of knowledge gathered by systematic observation and classified. Political facts can be observed, compared and classified, as Aristotle did with the Greek constitutions. So political science is a social science. It cannot predict like physics, but its method is scientific. It is also an art, because it guides the practice of government.
Political science and the political sciences
Garner distinguishes the singular from the plural. Political science (singular) is the general science of the state as a whole. The political sciences (plural) are the special disciplines that study one side of it, such as jurisprudence, public law, political economy and constitutional history. A student of political science must draw on all of them.
The scope of political science
The scope can be arranged in five fields.
1. Political theory. The study of ideas about the state: its origin, nature and purpose, sovereignty, rights, liberty, equality and justice. It includes the history of political thought, from Plato, Aristotle and Kautilya to Hobbes, Marx and Gandhi.
2. Political institutions. The study of constitutions, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, and of forms of government: democracy and dictatorship, unitary and federal, parliamentary and presidential. Comparative government belongs here. Example: a comparison of the Indian Parliament with the British Parliament.
3. Political dynamics. The study of the forces that move institutions: political parties, pressure groups, public opinion, elections and voting behaviour. Example: the study of how coalitions are formed in Indian States.
4. Public administration. The study of how policy is carried out: the civil service, planning, budgeting and local government. Example: the working of a district collectorate or a panchayat.
5. International relations. The study of relations between states: war and peace, diplomacy, international law and international organisations such as the United Nations.
Scope in time: past, present and future
Within each field the subject looks three ways. It looks back at what the state has been, through history. It looks at what the state is, through analysis. And it asks what the state ought to be, through political philosophy. Garner's three problems of the subject follow this order: the nature of the state, the forms of political institutions, and "the laws of political growth and development."
Where the scope ends
The scope is wide but not unlimited. Dunning, quoted by Leacock, suggested that political science begins where a political consciousness appears. Primitive communities without such consciousness belong to sociology and anthropology. Advanced communities that knowingly organise their common life belong to political science.
| Field | What it studies | An Indian example |
|---|---|---|
| Political theory | Ideas of state, rights, justice | Gandhi's idea of swaraj |
| Political institutions | Constitutions and organs of government | The working of Parliament |
| Political dynamics | Parties, groups, public opinion | Coalition governments |
| Public administration | Carrying out policy | Panchayati raj administration |
| International relations | Relations between states | India in the United Nations |
Scope for a law student
For a law student the scope matters directly. Constitutional law is political science expressed in legal rules. Concepts such as sovereignty, separation of powers, federalism and the rule of law are first studied here and then applied in the courts. A lawyer who argues a case on federal relations or on fundamental rights is using political science every day.
Conclusion. Political science is the systematic study of the state and government, distinct from politics as an art and from politics as party struggle. Its scope covers political theory, political institutions, political dynamics, public administration and international relations. Within each field it studies the state as it was, as it is and as it ought to be. Its boundary lies where political consciousness begins. For the law student, it is the foundation of constitutional and public law.
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