UPSC IAS Prelims previous Questions Political Science

UPSC IAS Prelims previous Questions Political Science
UPSC Civil Services: Political Science Prelims Papers Free Online Practice
Solved Political Science which appeared in past Exams


Q. 1. The distinction between legal and political sovereignty was made by:
(a) John Locke
(b) John Austin
(c) A.V. Dicey
(d) Harold J. Laski
Ans. (c)

Q. 2. Jean Bobin defined sovereignty as “the supreme power over citizens and subjects unrestrained by law.” The implication of the definition according to its author is that:
(a) the sovereign is not bound by positive law but is subject to the Higher Law
(b) the sovereign is not subject to any law including the law of God and nature
(c) the sovereign can alter the fundamental law of the land
(d) the sovereign is legally omni-competent and morally supreme
Ans. (d)

Q. 3. Duguit criticized the Austinian theory of sovereignty in the name of the:
(a) community’s sense of right
(b) principle of social solidarity
(c) moral personality of corporations
(d) theory of natural law
Ans. (b)

Q. 4. Political Pluralism:
(a) rejects the idea of the state
(b) rejects the moral and legal omni competence of the state
(c) rejects the view that law is not the creation of the state but is anterior and superior to it
(d) believes in the complete autonomy of corporate groups and associations
Ans. (d)

Q. 5. In which of the following did pluralists believe?
1. The social, economic, religious and educational association with in the State is more important than the State
2. The State has no absolute claim to the total obedience of the citizens
3. The State coordinates the activities of other association
4. The State as an institution can be dispensed with
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 2 and 4
(d) 3 and 4
Ans. (b)

Q. 6. Which of the following statements are correct about the State and associations?
1. The State is the unique type of association
2. The State is a territorial organization while association does not necessarily need territory
3. Associations can exist without the State
4. We must be members of some other association besides the State
(a) 1, 2 and 4
(b) 2, 3 and 4
(c) l and 2
(d) 1 and 3
Ans. (b)

Q. 7. Match List- I with List -II and select the correct answer:
List-I List-II
A. The State comes into existence for the sake 1. J. S. Mill
of life but it continues to exist for good life
B. The state is the march of God on earth 2. Aristotle
C. The State is a joint stock protection company 3. Karl Marx
for mutual assurance
D. The State is nothing more than a machine for the 4. Herbert Spencer
oppression of one class by another
5. Hegel
Codes:
A B C D
(a) 2 5 1 3
(b) 1 2 3 5
(c) 2 5 4 3
(d) 5 2 4 3
Ans. (a)

Q. 8. Which of the following is rejected by Hobbes as the foundation of the State?
(a) The view that might is right
(b) Individualism
(c) Rational self-preservation as the ground for social contract
(d) Concept of authorization
Ans. (a)

Q. 9. Pluto is called the father of the idealist theory of the state because:
(a) he prescribed the ideals of city-state
(b) his theory was based not on what human nature is but on what it ought to be
(c) he postulated a dualism between reality and value
(d) he based his theory on the idea of the Good
Ans. (b)

Q. 10. ‘The state is a necessary evil’. This statement refers to the:
(a) anarchist theory of the state
(b) individualist theory of the state
(c) Maxian theory of the state
(d) neo-liberal theory of the state
Ans. (b)

Q. 11. Which of the following statements about Hegel’s theory of state is not correct?
(a) The state, transcends the one-sidedness of both legality and morality expression of social morality
(b) The state is higher than civil society; it lifts it up from its mechanical and mundane level and transposes it to a higher moral and spiritual plane
(c) The state can annul civil society altogether and can do without it
(d) Civil society cannot exist without the state and in a sense is state’s creation
Ans. (c)

Q. 12. “The principle of the greatest good of the greatest number was made a hook to be put into nostrils of the Leviathan so that it could be tamed and harnessed to the chariot of utility.” This observation refers to the political theory of:
(a) Hobbes
(b) Hume
(c) Sidgwick
(d) Bentham
Ans. (a)

Q. 13. Aristotle described the State as natural. By this he meant that:
(a) the state was not created by man but was product of natural forces and facts like air, water, the earth, the sky, climatic conditions, environment and the interaction among all these
(b) the state was created to satisfy man’s natural needs
(c) the state satisfies man’s natural needs are not a proof that it is natural, those needs are but the stirrings in him of that immanent end (telos) that is expressed in the state
(d) Man is by nature a social being and no social life is possible without law and order which can be maintained only by the state
Ans. (d)

Q. 14. “Against intelligence, the growth of knowledge and the progress of science, which the enlightenment believed to be the only hope of civilization, he set amiable and benevolent sentiments, i.e. good will and reverence.” This refers to the thought of: (a) Diderot
(c) Rousseau
(b) Hume
(d) Kant
Ans. (c)

Q. 15. “A thinking man is depraved animal.” This view of man was propounded by:
(a) Hobbes
(c) Herder
(b) Vico
(d) Rousseau
Ans. (d)

Q. 16. Rousseau’s theory of General Will implies that it is:
(a) the sum of particular wills
(b) the aggregate of all the rational wills of individuals comprising a particular political community
(c) the transcendent, universal will may be even of one individual, which aims at the common good of the community
(d) will of the enlightened ruling elite
Ans. (c)

Q. 17. The theory of Social Contract is essentially concerned with:
(a) explaining the historical genesis of the state
(b) explorising the philosophical / theoretical foundations of the state
(c) justifying the status quo
(d) promoting bourgeois order
Ans. (b)

Q. 18. Match List- I with List- II and select the correct answer:
List –I List-II
A. In the state of nature, the life of man was solitary, 1. J.J. Rousseau
poor, nasty, brutish and short
B. Man is born free but he is everywhere in chains 2. Karl Marx
C. Men being by nature all free, equal and independent, 3. Thomas Hobbes
no one can be put out of this state and subjected to
the political power of another, without his consent
D. The state ought not to 4. John Locke is considered as 4. John Locke
nothing better than partnership agreement in a trade of
paper and coffee—It is a partnership in all arts,
a partnership in every virtue and in all perfection
5. Edmund Burke
Codes:
A B C D
(a) 3 1 4 5
(b) 5 2 4 1
(c) 3 2 5 4
(d) 2 1 3 5
Ans. (a)

Q. 19. It is better to Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied. This observation is:
(a) a reaffirmation of hedonistic utilitarianism
(b) an improvement on hedonism
(c) a repudiation of hedonism
(d) a form of moral intuitionism
Ans. (a)

Q. 20. The philosopher who has transformed classical liberalism into a kind of welfarism in modem times is:
(a) Hayek
(b) Macpherson
(c) Nozick
(d) Rawls
Ans. (b)

Q. 21. One of the criticisms of the theory of Natural Rights is that it:
(a) places societal interests above individual interests
(b) assumes that rights exist prior to society
(c) believes that rights are the creations of the sovereign
(d) puts too much emphasis on social recognition of rights
Ans. (b)

Q. 22. The entitlement theory of property has been propounded by:
(a) John Locke
(b) John Rawls
(c) Hayek
(d) Nozick
Ans. (a)

Q. 23. Who among the following thinkers made a distinction between Real Will and Actual Will?
(a) Rousseau
(b) Green
(c) Bosanquet
(d) Kant
Ans. (a)

Q. 24. Match List- I with List -II and select the correct answer:
List- I List-II
(Rules/relations) (Law of Nature)
A. Rules which govern relations among individuals 1. Domestic Law
B. Principles which govern relations between states 2. Administrative Law
C. Principles which govern the conduct between different 3. International Law
levels of government (such as federal, state, local)
D. Principles which govern the relations between s various 4.Constitutional Law
governmental agencies and between government and citizens
5. Private Law
Codes:
A B C D
(a) 5 4 2 3
(b) 2 3 4 5
(c) 4 1 3 2
(d) 5 3 4 2
Ans. (d)

Q. 25. The theory of justice the man thrust of which is on fairness is known as:
(a) metaphysical theory of justice
(b) political theory of justice
(c) legal theory of justice
(d) retributive theory of justice
Ans. (c)