ISC Class 12 Political Science Syllabus 2026-27: Comprehensive Guide and Download Link

Events

Description

Examination Name

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)

Board Name

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations

Subject

Political Science (852)

Board Exams

Conducted annually

Website

cisce.org

PAPER I (THEORY) – 80 MARKS SECTION

SECTION A

Constitution and Government 

1. Forms of Government Totalitarian and Authoritarian

States, Liberal Democratic State, Unitary and Federal States, Parliamentary and Presidential forms of government. Meaning and features of Totalitarian State, Authoritarian State and Liberal Democratic State. Comparison between Totalitarian and Authoritarian States. Meaning and features of Britain as a Unitary state and USA as a Federal States. Comparison between Britain as a unitary state and USA as a federal state. Meaning and features of Parliamentary form of government in India and Presidential form of government in the USA. Comparison between Parliamentary government in India and Presidential form of government in the USA. 2. Constitution Meaning; kinds of Constitutions: Written and Unwritten, Rigid and Flexible: merits and demerits. Amending procedures.3 Meaning; Kinds: Written and Unwritten, Rigid and Flexible: merits and demerits of each. Amending procedures of the Constitutions of U.K., U.S.A and India. 3. Franchise and Representation Universal Adult Franchise; Representation; Political Parties; Party System. Universal Adult Franchise - meaning, reasons for widespread acceptance. Representation: Methods First Past the Post System – meaning only. 

Proportional Representation -meaning only. Political Parties – meaning. Kinds – Single party, Bi-party, Multi-party system – meaning and merits only. 

Organs of the Government 

4. The Legislature Legislature; The legislature in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study. Meaning of Legislature. The legislatures in India and U.S.A.- Composition (strength, method of election and tenure) and functions: legislative, constituent, executive (ways in which the legislature controls the executive), judicial, electoral and financial. Composition and powers of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (including special powers). Unique powers of the Senate, why is the Senate considered the world’s most powerful second chamber? Comparison of the Rajya Sabha and the U.S. Senate; Lok Sabha with the U.S. House of Representatives. 5. The Executive Difference between the Political Executive and the Permanent Executive. Political Executive in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study. Meaning of the Executive. Difference between the Political and Permanent Executive in India. Political executive in India: Indian President - legislative, executive, emergency and discretionary powers. Powers of the Indian Prime Minister - link between Cabinet and President, formation of Council of Ministers, Chairman of the Cabinet, Leader of Parliament and the Leader of the nation. Political executive in the USA: USA President - executive and legislative powers Comparison of Executive in India and USA: Method of Election, Type of executive, Relation with legislature, Relation with cabinet and Role in financial matters 6. The Judiciary Meaning of Judiciary. Conditions of Independence of Judiciary. Judiciary in India and U.S.A. - a comparative study. Judicial Review. Meaning of judiciary; conditions of independence of judiciary The Judiciary in India and U.S.A. – composition (strength and tenure only) and powers of Indian Supreme Court (original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction) and American Supreme Court (original and appellate jurisdiction only). Judicial Review – meaning, principles (maxims). Comparative study of Indian and US Supreme Courts 

SECTION B Indian Democracy 

7. Indian Constitution

(i) Preamble Preamble and its importance. Meaning of the key words contained in the Preamble.

(ii) Salient features of the Indian Constitution. Written and Comprehensive; a Constitution drawn from several sources; Federal structure with Unitary spirit; Partly rigid and Partly flexible; Fundamental Rights and Duties; Directive Principles of State Policy; Parliamentary form of Government; Single Citizenship; Bi-cameral legislature; Universal Adult Franchise; Single Integrated and Independent Judiciary; Judicial Review; Emergency powers; Special provisions for Schedule castes and Schedule tribes.

8. Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy. Fundamental Rights: meaning of Fundamental Rights; detailed study of all Fundamental Rights in India. Directive Principles of State Policy: classification: liberal Gandhian and socialist. Difference between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy.

9. Local self-government 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts. Key features of the 73rd and 74th Amendments. 11th and 12th schedules in brief. Composition and functions of Zila Parishad and Municipal Corporation.

10. Democracy in India – a perspective of the challenges faced Challenges faced by the Indian Democracy: Caste, Regionalism and Political Violence. Caste: meaning, role of caste in Indian Politics. Regionalism: meaning; Kinds of regional aspirations: language issues, sons-of-the-soil policies, river water disputes, demand for new states, secessionist demands. Political Violence: meaning, forms- Linguistic, secessionist, terrorist, cast 

PAPER II (PROJECT WORK)–20 MARKS 

Candidates will be required to undertake one project which may be any one of the following: 

(i) A case study. 

(ii) Survey study with a questionnaire. 

(iii) Research based project with in-depth analysis. 

(iv) Any contemporary or recent Social/Local/ national/ global political issue. 

(v) Book review/ film review/ documentaries/ posters/ newspapers/ advertisements/ cartoons and art. The project must not be based primarily on the syllabus; students must be encouraged to produce original, creative and insightful perspectives on an allied aspect of the topic. 

For example, if the theme is Fundamental Rights, the project could deal with violation, protection, court verdicts, Public Interest Litigations (PILs), etc. related to socially relevant issues. The project will be assessed by the teacher and a Visiting Examiner appointed locally and approved by CISCE.