PSIR Answer Writing Module 2023

Model Answers - Test 12

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1.Is the rise of social movements a sign of opening up of popular space in political process or
decline of representative politics? Examine.

Social movements are those organised efforts on the part of the certain groups , to promote or resist
changes in the structure of society that involve resort to non institutional forms of political
participation.

There are three important elements of social movements viz, collective action , social change and
common purpose.Thus, social movements are considered as the expression of the ' collective will '.
This consideration creates a close link between social movements and democracy in contemporary
times.

According to Scholars like Huntington and Rajni Kothari , social and grassroots movement in a
democratic setup are the results of the gap between expectation of people and performance of the
system . According to Rajni Kothari , democracy in India has become playground for growing
corruption, criminalization and repression of large masses of the people.

Thus in such scenario , mass mobilization at the grassroot level is both necessary and desirable as
electoral system, political parties , trade unions etc. do not provide enough space to the masses to
bring social transformation. This leads to emergence of a new arena of counter- action and counter-
challenge to existing paradigm of thought and action.

Thus, social movements are considered to play positive role in democracy in different ways . They are
outcome of people's consciousness for inserting the demands and does have, what David Bayley calls
as, 'functional utility'. The civil society argument highlighted that democracy is not realised by
changing the holders of state power rather by constant alertness and awareness of semi autonomous
sphere of civil society. Habermas talks about the revival of “public sphere”. Nancy Fraser talks about
“counter public”.

Democracy demands sustained activism on daily basis. Gramsci in his magnum opus “Prison
Notebooks” held that “state without civil societies are fragile constructs likely to be overthrow in the
face of citizen mobilization”. Even in India, relative decline of party system has turned people towards
grass root activism, which Rajni Kothari calls as 'non party political process”.

To conclude, we can say that the rise of social movements is a multi- dimentional phenomenon and
the rise of social movement cannot be attributed to any one factor, if it is a sign of opening of
popular space, it is also a symbol of the decline of representative politics along with the rising
consciousness about the rights. However, Large memberships, committed activists and the ability to
mobilize popular protests and demonstrations undoubtedly give social movements and NGOs
political influence, but it does not give them democratic authority, when there is no mechanism for
testing the weight of their views against those of society at large. It is essential that the legitimacy of
representational politics is restored.
2. Examine the relevance of political economy approach to comparative politics.

Political economy, an inter-disciplinary approach involving economics and politics, is one of the
modern approaches to the study of comparative politics. It is the methodology of economics applied
to the analysis of political behavior & institutions.

Since the institutions do not change considerably over time, a comparative perspective helps in
identifying institutional influences on political behavior as well as on social & economic outcomes.
For eg- Marx related his conception of the state to the prevalent mode of production. For him, the
character of the state changes with a change in the mode of production. Marxists considers politics
as a superstructure on economic base.

In comparative politics, political economy has participated in three major theoretical developments.
It helped in establishing an analytical perspective to politics in which uncovering regularities, patterns
& causal mechanisms are of primary interest rather than political order. Political economists
provided path-breaking insights into the interaction between corporations & governments. It explains
why policies in autocracies tend to differ from policies in democracies & government spending is
higher in countries with proportional electoral system than in countries with majoritarian electoral
system. Political economists are at the forefront of explaining how government decisions are altered
by the increase in global economic integrations.

Within the political economy approach, the concept of dependency has been widely used in
comparative analysis of the third world systems, particularly in Latin America. Political economy
approach has been applied by neo-Marxist scholars like Hamza Alavi in analyzing the nature of
economic policies adopted by the post-colonial states. In contemporary times, Marxist scholars like
Immanuel Wallerstein has highlighted the exploitative nature of globalization from Marxist
perspective and how globalization has increased poverty, hunger and social unrest.

Proponents of political economy approach argues that, being a combination of quantitative and
qualitative analysis, this approach is beneficial from the perspective of the comparative politics. For
eg- Amartya Sen has compared the development model of India and China and has shown
weaknesses of India’s approach. Moreover, the relevance of the political economy approach is also
based on the fact that the, in the contemporary times, political economists have been at the forefront
of explaining how governments decisions are influenced or altered by the growing global economic
inter connectedness and integrations.

3. Discuss the impact of pandemic on the nature of states in advanced industrial societies.

The study of state has always been the core area of study in comparative politics . At present political
scholars are analysing the impact of pandemic on the state across the globe .

If we talk about the western states , we can safely say that they are the welfare states in some
degrees since the end of WWII (Keynesian states). In 70s , there was a rolling back of the welfare
state as it became unsustainable . Rolling back does not mean all states became “Laissez faire ”
absolute sense .

The globalisation of 90s has diluted the sovereignty of the states . However, since global financial
crisis and now pandemic , the process of globalisation has come to a halt and the nation states have
bounced back . There has been the greater involvement of states in addressing the crisis.
According to the study by economists , the corona virus pandemic is forcing the western countries to
expand the welfare state . According to it, the most pertinent historical parallel to the current
situation is WWII. Governments across the world responded by providing more generous measures.

However, governments have also taken the opportunity to increase their surveillance capacity . The
emergence of surveillance state does not augur well either for democracy or for Human rights like
Right to Privacy. It has been held that , crisis may result into democracies slipping into
authoritarianism . There is a fear that once expanded , state will not easily roll back. There is a fear of
those in power misusing the opportunity . For example – Hungary has established indefinite state of
emergency . The invasive data collection for the purpose of public health may result into the misuse if
citizens will not “act in concert” to ensure that their basic rights are protected

4. Discuss the strength of political sociology approach.

The approach of Political Sociology concerns with the study of power and the relationship between
societies, states, and political conflict. It is a broad subfield that straddles political science and
sociology.

The approach examines how social identities and groups influence individual political behaviour, such
as voting, attitudes, and political participation. The distinctive focus of political sociologists is on the
underlying social forces that shape the political system.

Political sociology can trace its origins to the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville, Karl Marx, Emile
Durkheim, and Max Weber, among others. In fact Marx can be considered as the “Father of Modern
Sociology ” as he widened the scope of social analysis beyond politics, through his “Base and Super
structure model”.

However, there emerged another school known as the Weberian School which challenges the
Marxian school calling the latter as monocausal explanation. Thus there are two prominent schools
on political sociology - Marxian School and Weberian School .

Thus political sociology studies the issues at the interface of politics and society like the study of
elites, phenomenon of power , political culture, party system and so on. The relevance of political
sociology is described by Duverger as an attempt to understand the political phenomenon within the
broad spectrum of social phenomenon , removing the barriers between disciplines , emphasizing the
essential unity of all social sciences . It is considered as an attempt to use empirical and experimental
methods of research instead of philosophical reasoning, broadening the area of enquiry , grappling
with the new demands of discipline . It produces a more realistic , precise and theory conscious
analysis

5. Traditional form of globalization is in partial retreat and new agendas are morphing into the
new forms of globalization. Analyse.

Globalisation is morphing as new agendas like climate change, taxation of global companies, tackling
terrorism, sharing vaccines etc. Cross-border problems in a more integrated world are forcing
countries to come together, even as elements of traditional globalisation lose traction. This
significantly reverses a long-term trend.

In 2019, global trade shrank in absolute terms for the first time in a decade, and did so again in 2020
because of the pandemic. Protectionist walls have been going up in several countries, including India.

Another aspect of Traditional form of Globalisation: free movement of people has also been affected.
Europe and North America account for over half the total of world migrants, and their number has
shrunk, though admittedly by a small margin. Brexit and Former US President Trump’s policies have
signalled the reversal of a 70-year trend of immigration regimes getting progressively more liberal.

Although, the impact of new technologies that led to Thomas Friedman’s “Flat World” thesis also
persists. But new agendas are shaping new forms of globalisation.

Although developing countries like India are an enthusiastic implementer of the Paris Agreement of
2015, they get no assistance (financial or technical) to switch to new technologies and give up old
ones like coal-based energy. At the same time, the countries responsible for much of the historical
emission of carbon gases get a free pass.

The return of Taliban in Afghanistan show the failure of the continued efforts of International
communities with respect to transnational Terrorism. Despite Covax initiative, developed countries
have indulged in Vaccine Nationalism which basically entails reserving large quantity of vaccines for
their own population rather than equitable distribution of the same. The giant tech companies that
dominate the field have had a free run but have increasingly come up against sovereign state power,
including in India. They have demanded exclusive rights which have challenged not only the
sovereignty of nation states but also democratic principles like Free and fair elections. There is a need
for setting global rules for global business.

6. Differentiate between the role of political parties and pressure groups with suitable examples.

'Political parties' and ' pressure groups' are indispensable to any democratic system and essential
components of representative democracy.

Political parties aim at capturing the political offices formally, pressure groups are called as “invisible
empires” as they don’t join formal offices rather exert pressure or lobby for the protection and
promotion of the interest of their members from outside.

The elitist theory of democracy has emphasized as the role of political parties, whereas the pluralist
theory of democracy emphasise on the role of pressure/interest groups. Max Weber has called
modern political parties as 'power houses ' as it is a body of people coming together to gain power
like the Indian National Congress.

Political parties not only form government but also offer opposition like the BJP during UPA rule.
Pressure groups, on the other hand, are associations of people formed to articulate the interests of
the members through pressure tactics, to influence government’s decisions and policies. As such they
are often called 'private associations' formed to influence 'public policy'. According to V O Key, they
provide a good deal of propulsion for the formal constitutional systems. Rajni Kothari refers to the
politics of pressure groups as 'non-party political process'.

The main techniques employed by the pressure groups are lobbying , dharna , strikes and presenting
policy alternative to the government in power. For example – Lobbying is influential in USA. In some
instances they even try to pressurize the government through judicial interventions such as PIL etc.

Political party implies a structured group of people who share similar political views and who
collectively work as a political unit and aims at controlling the government. .The pressure groups aim
at exerting influence on the government to fulfil their demand. Conversely, political parties are
concerned with acquisition and retention of power

A pressure group is an informal, conceited and sometimes unrecognized entity. On the other hand,
political parties are formally recognized and open entity
However, both Pressure groups and political parties played a role in creating public opinion acting as
a source of political modernization and political education.

7. Examine the changing trends in the nature of state in advanced industrial societies since the
beginning of 21st century.

Once Political scientists ignored the study of state but later on realized that the study of state is the
core concern of Political science. Theda Skocpol called for bringing the state back in.

The developed countries, which together constitute the 'Global North' are called as 'Advanced
Industrial states'. Most of them have been imperial powers in the past (like UK) and continue to have
dominance on Politics, economics and Cultural-ideological spheres.

However, advanced Industrial societies cannot be treated as one uniform and homogenous category.
There are a lot of variations in reality. One can compare advanced industrial societies from
developing societies at a very general level. Changing trend of states in Advanced industrial societies:
The state is a historical institution emerging in 15th- 16th Century Europe. The treaty of Westphalia
(1648) is taken to have formalized the modern notion of statehood.

As a historical institution, the state has undergone variety of transformations.

1. Early 19th Century: Rise of nationalism led to the creation of 'nation-state', replacing 'city-
states'.
2. Upto 1930’s: the nature of state was characterized as “Laissez faire” or “minimal state”.
3. 1930’s to 1970’s:The character of state transformed into 'welfare state'. In this sense, the
ability to deliver prosperity and protect citizens from social deprivation became the principal
source of legitimacy in most states.
4. 1980’s to 1990’s: This phase was characterized by a general trend towards 'neoliberalism'
and progressive 'hollowing out' of the state.
5. From 1990’s to the start of 21st century: Since the phase represented globalisation we see
the weakening of state and the rise of supra national institutions for example EU.
6. Since 2008 financial crisis: These states aren’t only facing economic but also political crisis
also, which is reflected in rise of 'neo-rightists' in USA and Europe. However there is a growth
of “statism”.

Happymon Jacob, in the context of covid 19 Crisis mention that the states has failed in its attempt to
effectively counter the pandemic, yet the state has returned with more power, legitimacy and
surveillance technologies. The state which was losing its influence to global economic forces will
return as the last refuge of the people in the coming age of mass disruption

8. Globalisation has been too complex and too contradictory process. Discuss.

The early debate on globalization in the mid-1980s sought to determine if this concept was an
accurate description of changes that were occurring.

On the one side, skeptics of the notion argued that the degree of global integration had been greatly
exaggerated and that there was nothing fundamentally new about the globalism that did exist.
Global trading markets, currency exchange, mass migration, passport-free travel, and an
international cosmopolitan culture were all features of the world 100 years before.

This position appealed to the traditional left, for if there were no change in the international
environment, then there would be no need for concurrent changes in institutions and no need for
new left politics.

On the other side, "hyberglobalizers" trumpeted a world of dramatic transformation and new global
dynamics--a world dominated by corporations and technologies, where government has no real
power and people have no faith in traditional politics. Giddens argued that this debate is now a thing
of the past. "

The debate now is about the consequences of globalization, not about the reality of globalization."
Common but contradictory conceptions of globalization portray the process either as a conscious
policy driven practice that can be reversed, or as an exogenous force that nobody can really control.
Each of these visions is only partly true. Deliberate government policy is an essential driver of
globalization, but its impact cannot be reversed through government policy. Nor is globalization the
untamable force that marginalizes the masses, spreading inequalities and trampling on humanity
while it benefits the few at the expense of the many.