Optional. PSIR

This post will walk you through how I selected my optional for UPSC, resources for PSIR, its strategy ,answer writing, etc.

Selecting the right Optional.

UPSC has provided a list of 26 optional of which a candidate has to choose one. Often considered as kingmaker, optional determines your chances of getting into the list.

THE THREE CHECKPOINTS FOR CHOOSING AN OPTIONAL IN THE ORDER OF IMPORTANCE -:

1. Your interest
2. Availability of Resources/Guidance
3. Time required to complete the syllabus
4. Overlap with GS

Print the list of all available optional and eliminate the ones which do not qualify the above three checkpoints. You will now have very few optionals to select from, then rate all the left ones according to your interest>resources>time>overlap.

This exercise will decide your optional in the most rational way.
You can talk to some friends, see Toppers video/blog of that particular optional to better assess your choice.

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.

Coming from an engineering background, choosing a humanities optional was definitely a tough decision. The method mentioned above assured me PSIR would be my best bet.

Ticking the checkpoints

1. My interest- Political philosophy and International relations
2. Availability of Resources- Shubhra Ranjan Ma'am notes
3. Time required- 5 months for covering both Static and Dynamic part
4. Overlap with GS- 
1. Parts of Indian national Movement , communalism, regionalism & secularism(society)(GS1)
2. Polity, IR (GS2)
3. Contributions of Thinkers and Philosophers( GS4)
4. Essay- Not directly but the PSIR base comes handy in writing Philosophical essays

Resources

1. Paper 1= SHUBHRA RANAJN(SR) MAAM's Notes
2. Paper 2 = SR notes+ OnlyIAS booklet
3. Value addition
1. Mridul Shivhare AIR 247 2021 notes
2. Utkarsh Dwivedi AIR 5 2021 notes
3. OnlyIAS booklet
4. Current Affairs(CA)
1. ORF
2. Kootneeti
3. MEA Youtube
4. Test Series at Shubhra Ranjan after prelims that covers important CA in lectures

Strategy

Once You have decided PSIR to be your optional, the only base resource you must have is SR notes. The reason almost every topper recommends her notes are :

1. They beautifully explain complex theories in simple words
2. Cover almost all the static part
3. Mostly written in intro>Body> conclusion format
4. The notes itself are made from many standard books

Lets Break Down PSIR Paper wise for better understanding.

Paper 1 Part A : Political Theory

This part includes learning about philosophers, philosophies, theories of state, rights, justice , etc. Definitely difficult to grasp especially for non humanities student. This is where the magic of SR notes happen, even the complex theories become simple in multiple reading. You must have special space for Critiques in your notes for this part.

Part A of both Paper 1 & 2 must be understood by heart given these parts form base and have an application in Part B of both papers. Refer SR notes and make your own notes for better future revision.

Paper 1 Part B : Indian Government and Politics

The syllabus if glanced looks very similar to that of polity in GS2, but the depth of your understanding has to be increased. Start by reading SR notes and also refer Onlyias notes for some topics. This part is said to be dynamic, but according to me the questions aren't dynamic, rather your answer must have those dynamic aspect to showcase your awareness to examiner and fetch extra marks. Moreover being a PSIR student you must know constitution better than others, hence I would recommend you to read Bare act at least once(Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap). Apart from this you must be well versed with Case laws of different topics mentioned in syllabus. Don't worry I have compiled some of them which I will share soon, you can update them later.

Paper 2 Part A : Comparative Politics

This is my personal favorite. Read SR notes and OnlyIAS for difficult parts. This part seems to be challenging initially. Hence to understand topics better, I would highly suggest you to relate the theory with current happenings

For Example: You can apply the concept of balance of Power in current middle east crisis(internal + external balancing )

Paper 2 Part 2 : International Relations

The SR notes may not be very helpful in this part, hence I highly recommend you to use OnlyIAS notes for basics which can be supplemented by current affairs. Again this part is said to be dynamic, but many questions are static in nature but require some dynamic elements in the answer. For example, In the question  "What are the challenges and limitations in India - Iran relations UPSC 2023, 15 Marks" ,  you may already have notes for this bilateral relation, but if added current affair like (Iran  joining BRICS, outcomes of recent SCO summit hosted by India) would definitely give you extra marks. Its better to add theories from part A of both papers to support your argument in part B answers. For example Gramscian Theory by Robert Cox can be quoted when writing about Belt and road initiative i.e. how China is trying to force its hegemony on smaller nations by its Debt trap/ FTAs.

Current Affairs(CA)

In the GS we mostly depend on Mains365 for our current affairs but for PSIR this approach doesn't work. I will tell you what I did.

Read Indian express and ORF daily , if I could site some opinions of scholar, examples, outcomes of summits etc worth noting for PSIR I would immediately add them to my online notes for CA. The test series at SR also includes CA lecture that will supplement your CA notes.

Value Addition.

Depending totally on SR notes will make your answers appear similar to what others are writing. Hence we need that extra tadka to differentiate ourselves from the crowd. I used Mridul Shivhare Sir's notes to add scholarly opinion(amazing and detailed notes), ORF, current examples, Political theories in dynamic parts(Paper B), etc.

Scholars Opinion : A Dilemma

Once you see multiple toppers video for PSIR most of them do say to add Scholarly opinion intensively. I had a tough time remembering and applying these opinions in my answer, hence I followed a simpler approach. I often noticed Shubhra Ranjan ma'am saying  "Students must showcase their understanding of topics to examiner" hence I worried less about scholars and more about my basic knowledge. If you find it difficult to quote scholars-:

Prepare generic opinions of scholars that can be used in almost every answer of that particular topic rather than being very issue specific. Few examples:

1. S jaishankar= India is aligned only to its national interest.
2. Harsh Pant= Every strategic Partnership is product of its time
3. C raja Mohan= India Promises , China delivers
4. "Good fences make Good neighbour"

Answer Writing

This is the most important part of PSIR, developing that language. This is also the reason why I scored very less that is 241 in my optional. I didn't do much practice, could never develop that language and flow in my answers. Hence I dont have much expertise here, but you can refer to toppers copies(Utkarsh Dwivedi, Isshita Kishore, Navneet Mann, etc).

Few Suggestions:

1. Do read newspaper editorial religiously, its a benchmark for a perfect answer
2. Write to the point and in lesser words
3. Extensively use keywords like "Vasudhaiva Kutumbhkam", "Salami Slicing strategy of China", "Vishwamitra" when giving arguments for multipolarity, "Rogue State", etc.
4. Join some test series for external evaluation 
5. See multiple toppers copies, identify a pattern in their answers. Compare your answers with Toppers Answers
6. Interlink theories (Pluralist theory can be quoted in any answer of  "Perspectives of indian national Movement" of Paper 1 Part B)
1. Marx considered Economic relation to be the basic structure, but for Ambedkar the base was Societal relations
7. Add criticism

Structure of Answer

For Example a structure of IR answer would look like

1. 1st para=Intro
2. 2nd para=Sow your understanding of question in short
1. Example= que on declining relations of India Maldives.
1. must include Importance of neighborhood in India's Foreign policy especially Maldives
2. You can also add historical aspect(evolution of India-Maldives relation in 3-4 lines)
3. 3rd para Answer the demand of question
4. Add Criticism/challenges
5. Conclude on some positive note, more like a Way Forward

I am attaching my notes for paper 2 on my telegram group. For paper 1 you can refer to SR notes/OnlyIas notes.

https://t.me/kshitijgurbhele441