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🇮🇳 UGC NET Political Science · flashcards
UGC NET Political Science Political Theory Flashcards
50 question-and-answer cards covering Political Theory as it is examined in UGC NET Political Science. 24 of them are printed below, taken from across the deck — no signup, no paywall on the preview.
24 sample cards from the Political Theory deck
Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.
Who are key thinkers associated with liberalism?
John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith (classical); T.H. Green, John Maynard Keynes, John Rawls (modern/social liberalism).
What are the core principles of conservatism?
Tradition, pragmatism, human imperfection, organic society, hierarchy/authority, property, and gradual/cautious change over radical reform.
Who is regarded as the father of modern conservatism and through which work?
Edmund Burke, through 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' (1790), criticizing the abstract rationalism of the French Revolution.
What is the New Right and its two strands?
A blend of neoliberalism (free markets, minimal state, individualism) and neoconservatism (strong state, traditional values, social authority); associated with Thatcher and Reagan.
What are the core values of socialism?
Community, cooperation, equality (especially social equality), common/collective ownership, social class analysis, and concern for the working class.
Distinguish revolutionary socialism from evolutionary (reformist) socialism.
Revolutionary socialism seeks to overthrow capitalism through revolution (Marx, Lenin); evolutionary/reformist socialism (social democracy, Fabianism) seeks gradual change through democratic, parliamentary means.
What is the difference between socialism and social democracy?
Socialism (classically) seeks abolition of capitalism and common ownership; social democracy seeks to humanize/reform capitalism through redistribution, welfare, and a mixed economy while retaining markets.
What is the materialist conception of history (historical materialism) in Marxism?
The idea that the economic base (forces and relations of production) determines the superstructure (law, politics, ideology); history advances through class struggle driven by changes in modes of production.
What is the Marxist 'base and superstructure' model?
The economic base (mode of production: forces + relations of production) conditions the superstructure (state, law, culture, ideology), which in turn reinforces the base.
What is Marx's theory of surplus value?
Under capitalism, workers produce value greater than the wages they receive; the capitalist appropriates this unpaid surplus value as profit, which is the source of exploitation.
According to Marx, what are the stages leading from capitalism to communism?
Capitalism → proletarian revolution → dictatorship of the proletariat (transitional socialist phase) → withering away of the state → stateless, classless communism.
What is Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony?
The ideological and cultural dominance of the ruling class achieved through consent (civil society institutions) rather than coercion, making bourgeois values appear as 'common sense'.
What is the central argument of liberal feminism?
Women's subordination stems from legal and cultural barriers; equality can be achieved through reform — equal rights, education, suffrage, and equal opportunities within existing structures (e.g., Mary Wollstonecraft, Betty Friedan).
What does the feminist slogan 'the personal is political' mean?
That private/domestic life (family, sexuality, housework, relationships) involves power relations and is a legitimate sphere of political analysis — patriarchy operates in the private realm too.
Distinguish the concepts of 'sex' and 'gender' in feminist theory.
Sex refers to biological differences between males and females; gender refers to socially and culturally constructed roles, behaviors, and identities associated with masculinity and femininity.
What is patriarchy in feminist theory?
A system of social structures and practices through which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women; 'rule by the father' extended to male domination of society.
Distinguish radical feminism from socialist/Marxist feminism.
Radical feminism sees patriarchy/gender oppression as the fundamental and universal division (rooted in family and sexuality); socialist/Marxist feminism links women's oppression to capitalism and class exploitation.
What are the core principles of ecologism?
Ecocentrism/holism, interconnectedness of nature, sustainability, ecological balance, and rejection of unlimited economic growth and anthropocentric industrialism.
Distinguish 'shallow' (light green) ecology from 'deep' (dark green) ecology.
Shallow ecology is anthropocentric — protect nature to benefit humans (reform/sustainable growth); deep ecology is ecocentric — nature has intrinsic value, requiring fundamental change in human relationship with the planet (Arne Naess).
What is multiculturalism as a political theory?
The recognition and positive accommodation of cultural diversity, granting minority/cultural groups respect, rights, and sometimes group-differentiated rights within a shared political community.
What is Will Kymlicka's argument for minority rights in multiculturalism?
That liberal principles can justify group-differentiated 'multicultural citizenship' rights, because cultural membership provides the context of meaningful individual choice and autonomy.
What are the central features of postmodernism in political theory?
Rejection of grand narratives/universal truths (Lyotard's 'incredulity toward metanarratives'), skepticism of objective reason, emphasis on discourse, plurality, relativism, and the social construction of knowledge and identity.
What is Michel Foucault's concept of power/knowledge?
Power and knowledge are inseparable — power produces knowledge and knowledge sustains power; power is diffuse, capillary, and present in all social relations and discourses, not just held by the state.
What did Lyotard mean by 'the postmodern condition'?
The collapse of legitimizing metanarratives (e.g., Enlightenment progress, Marxism); knowledge becomes fragmented, plural, and validated through small, local narratives rather than universal truth claims.
What this deck covers
The Political Theory deck follows the UGC NET Political Science Political Theory syllabus — 2 chapters and 15 topics — so questions land on material that is genuinely examinable rather than trivia around it. That works out to roughly 25.0 cards per chapter.
Answers are written to be recallable, not just readable — averaging about 186 characters, which is long enough to carry the reasoning and short enough to say out loud.
A deck like this earns its keep on the second and third pass. Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then use the cards to find the specific facts that have not stuck.
Political Theory flashcards FAQ
How many Political Theory flashcards are in this UGC NET Political Science deck?
50 cards. This page previews 24 of them, sampled evenly across the deck so you can judge the difficulty before installing anything.
Are these UGC NET Political Science flashcards free?
Yes. The preview here is free to read with no signup, and the full 50-card deck is free inside the Examius app.
What do the Political Theory cards cover?
They follow the UGC NET Political Science Political Theory syllabus — 2 chapters and 15 topics — so the questions track what is actually examinable.
How should I use these flashcards?
Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then drill the deck. Examius schedules each card with spaced repetition, so cards you keep missing come back sooner and ones you know drift further apart.