Civil services · Updated Oct 2026
UPSC Political Science and International Relations optional: syllabus and study plan
The Political Science and International Relations optional is two Mains papers of 250 marks each, 500 of the 1,750 written marks. Below are the units of the official CSE syllabus with first-pass study hours.
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Exam pattern at a glance
- Papers
- Paper 1 and Paper 2, 250 marks each, 3 hours each, descriptive
- Counts for
- Final merit (500 of 1,750 Mains written marks)
- Overlap with GS
- GS Paper 2
Check the latest notification before the exam. Official syllabus ↗
Chapter-wise weightage and study hours
Weightage is the chapter's share of past-paper questions, normalised within its subject; hours are a first pass without revision.
UPSC publishes no unit-level weightage for optionals, and past-paper splits are not reliable enough to use, so units share each paper equally.
Paper 1 250 marks · 200 h
| # | Chapter / topic | Share of paper (equal split) | Study hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights | 10% | 20 |
| 2 | Democracy, Power and Political Ideologies | 10% | 20 |
| 3 | Indian Political Thought | 10% | 20 |
| 4 | Western Political Thought | 10% | 20 |
| 5 | Indian Nationalism | 10% | 20 |
| 6 | Making and Features of the Constitution | 10% | 20 |
| 7 | Union and State Government | 10% | 20 |
| 8 | Grassroots Democracy and Statutory Institutions | 10% | 20 |
| 9 | Federalism, Planning and Development | 10% | 20 |
| 10 | Caste, Religion, Ethnicity, Party System, Social Movements | 10% | 20 |
| Total | 200 |
Paper 2 250 marks · 192 h
| # | Chapter / topic | Share of paper (equal split) | Study hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Comparative Politics: Approaches, State, Representation, Globalisation | 8.3% | 16 |
| 2 | IR Approaches and Key Concepts | 8.3% | 16 |
| 3 | Changing International Political Order | 8.3% | 16 |
| 4 | International Economic System | 8.3% | 16 |
| 5 | United Nations and Regionalisation | 8.3% | 16 |
| 6 | Contemporary Global Concerns | 8.3% | 16 |
| 7 | Indian Foreign Policy: Determinants and Non-Alignment | 8.3% | 16 |
| 8 | India and South Asia | 8.3% | 16 |
| 9 | India and the Global South (Africa, Latin America, NIEO, WTO) | 8.3% | 16 |
| 10 | India and Global Centres of Power | 8.3% | 16 |
| 11 | India and the UN, Nuclear Policy | 8.3% | 16 |
| 12 | Recent Developments in Indian Foreign Policy | 8.3% | 16 |
| Total | 192 |
A sample first week
A first week at 6 hours a day, built from the weightage above: each subject gets sessions in proportion to its marks, starting with its heaviest chapters, mixed so no day is one subject only. Your real plan in the app fits your own hours and exam date.
| Day | Session 1 (2 h) | Session 2 (2 h) | Session 3 (2 h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Paper 1Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights | Paper 2Comparative Politics: Approaches, State, Representation, Globalisation | Paper 1Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights (contd.) |
| Tue | Paper 2Comparative Politics: Approaches, State, Representation, Globalisation (contd.) | Paper 1Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights (contd.) | Paper 2Comparative Politics: Approaches, State, Representation, Globalisation (contd.) |
| Wed | Paper 1Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights (contd.) | Paper 2Comparative Politics: Approaches, State, Representation, Globalisation (contd.) | Paper 1Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights (contd.) |
| Thu | Paper 2Comparative Politics: Approaches, State, Representation, Globalisation (contd.) | Paper 1Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights (contd.) | Paper 2Comparative Politics: Approaches, State, Representation, Globalisation (contd.) |
| Fri | Paper 1Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights (contd.) | Paper 2Comparative Politics: Approaches, State, Representation, Globalisation (contd.) | Paper 1Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights (contd.) |
| Sat | Paper 2Comparative Politics: Approaches, State, Representation, Globalisation (contd.) | Paper 1Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights (contd.) | Paper 2IR Approaches and Key Concepts |
| Sun | Revise this week's chapters, take one timed mock or sectional test, and log the score. | ||
How Daily Tayyari plans your day
Pick your exam and date
Choose the exam (and GATE paper or UPSC optional) and your exam date. The full official syllabus loads with every chapter listed above.
Tell it your daily hours
Say how many hours you can study on weekdays and weekends. The plan only ever fills that time.
Get today's tasks
Each morning you see a short list of tasks: new chapters weighted by marks, plus practice and revision, sized to fit your day.
Spaced revision, automatically
Finished chapters come back after 1, 3, 7, 15, 30 and 60 days, and sooner if a chapter felt hard.
Green, yellow, red status
See whether you are on track, slightly behind or behind, and when the syllabus will be finished at your real pace.
Mock test tracking
Log scores from any test series. Chapters that went badly are marked weak and revised sooner.
Frequently asked questions
Which chapters carry the most weight in UPSC Political Science and International Relations optional?
Going by our compiled weightage, the heaviest chapters are Political Theory, State, Justice, Equality, Rights, Democracy, Power and Political Ideologies, Indian Political Thought, Western Political Thought, Indian Nationalism. They are worth starting early, but past papers vary from year to year, so plan to cover the whole syllabus.
Is this UPSC Political Science and International Relations optional weightage official?
No. UPSC publishes the syllabus, not chapter weightage. These numbers come from analyses of previous years' papers, so treat them as a guide to priority, not a promise of what will be asked.
How many hours does the UPSC Political Science and International Relations optional syllabus take?
Our first-pass estimate adds up to about 390 hours of study, before revision and mock tests. At 6 hours a day, 6 days a week, that is roughly 2.5 months. Daily Tayyari replaces these defaults with your actual pace after the first week or two.
Does the Political Science and International Relations optional overlap with General Studies?
Partly: it supports GS Paper 2. Daily Tayyari counts overlapping preparation once, which frees time for answer writing.
Can any graduate choose this optional?
Yes. UPSC lets candidates pick any optional from the list regardless of their graduation subject. Interest, available material and overlap with GS are the usual deciding factors.
Is Daily Tayyari free, and does it work in Hindi?
Yes. It is free with no ads and no payment; you sign in with Google only so your plan is saved. You can switch between Hindi and English at any time, and chapter names are shown in both.