Class 12 Political Science Syllabus with Chapter Wise Marks

Part A: Contemporary World Politics (40 marks)

The chapters move from the break up of the USSR and the fifteen states that emerged, to regional groupings such as the European Union and ASEAN, and the rise of China, Japan and South Korea as centres of power. South Asia covers India's neighbours and their democracies and disputes. International Organisations covers the UN, its main organs, reform debates and other bodies. The last three chapters look at traditional and non traditional security, global environmental agreements and common resources, and the economic, cultural and political sides of globalisation.

Part B: Politics in India since Independence (40 marks)

This book follows a timeline. You begin with Partition, the integration of princely states and the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines, then the first elections and the dominance of one party. Planned development covers the early Five Year Plans and the debates around them. External relations runs through non alignment, the wars with China and Pakistan and the nuclear policy. The later chapters deal with the political changes of the late 1960s, the Emergency, regional movements in Punjab, the North East and Jammu and Kashmir, and the coalition era and recent trends.

How the board paper is set

The theory paper has 30 compulsory questions in five sections:

Internal choice is given in some 4 mark questions and in all 6 mark questions. Visually impaired candidates get alternative questions in place of the map and picture items.

Project work for 20 marks

Your school assesses the project. You pick a topic linked to the syllabus, research it, write it up and then face a short viva. Good topics stay narrow and use real sources such as newspaper reports, official data and interviews. A few that work well:

• How the UN Security Council could be reformed, with India's case for a permanent seat
• A local study of how globalisation changed a market or industry in your town
• The Emergency through newspaper archives of the time
• Coalition governments and how they made policy
• A regional movement and how it was settled

What to prioritise in the class 12 political science syllabus

Ten chapters carry 6 marks or more: six of the seven in Part A, three in Part B, and Recent Developments at 8. Those ten add up to 62 of the 80 theory marks, so begin with them. Planned Development at 2 marks is the lightest, but do not skip it, as one MCQ or short answer is likely.

• Map practice: the map item usually draws on South Asia, the European Union, ASEAN or post Soviet states. Keep blank outline maps and mark them weekly.
• Cartoons: both NCERT books are full of cartoons. Read each one and write two lines on its message.
• Dates and names: Part B needs a clean timeline. Build one on a single sheet from 1947 onward.

A month by month plan for class 12th political science syllabus

1. April to July: Part A chapters 1 to 4 and Part B chapters 1 to 3. Write two short answers after each chapter.
2. August to October: the remaining chapters of both books, plus the project.
3. November and December: 6 mark answer practice, maps and cartoons, and the latest CBSE sample paper.
4. January and February: past board papers in 3 hour sittings and quick revision of every timeline.

Books and linked subjects

The two NCERT textbooks are the syllabus. Read them fully, including boxes, cartoons and the exercises at the end of each chapter, since board questions are built from them. Practise with the board's sample papers and marking schemes, and with the CBSE class 12 previous papers. History and political science overlap in places, so the class 12 history syllabus is worth a look. Your remaining subjects are listed in the complete CBSE class 12 syllabus. Thinking of a degree and teaching career in this field? Our UGC NET guide for the subject shows where it can lead.