DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Name of the Department:-  Political Science

Year of Establishment:-    U.G. – General Level- 1971 , Special  Level -1973,  P.G.-  2010


Department Profile: 

Politics, in its broadest sense, is the activity through which people make, preserve, and amend the general rules under which they live. Treated as a field of social sciences, Political Science is the study of constitution (The Constitution is the highest law of the land) of a country and different political aspects. It involves the study of governmental, non- governmental systems and operations. Accordingly, Political Science often studies the workings of trade unions, corporations or other forms of groups that need not be ‘political’ as far as law and administration one concerned but have similar complexities of governmental procedures. The study of Political Science also concerns international relations, political theories, history, political economy, foreign policies, public administration, Federation, Information Technology and a number of other academic fields. The term ‘Politics’ is applied to a particular social phenomenon as well as a systematic study. Aristotle adapted politics as the title of his famous work, he use the term to indicate a distinct branch of study. The term ‘Politics’ or ‘Political Science’ our subject of study is always concerned with a particular type of human activity. Politics is concerned with the public sector, with Parliament, elections, cabinets and has little relevance to other sphere of human activity. 

The department has developed the expertise and scholarship over the years in areas of the subject such as: Political Philosophy and Political Theory, International Relations and Foreign Policy, Public Administration, and Dalit and Minority Politics.As a part of social responsibility department organizes Blood Donation camp after regular intervals, also the Voter Awareness Campaign is one of the vital initiative this department has undertaken. 

The in-take capacity at entry point (MA Part I) is sixty.Admissions are given as per ordinance 181 and SavitribaiPhule Pune University guidelines.Admissions are finalized by the Admissions Committee of the department on merit basis. While preference is given to applicants who have done bachelor’s degree with Political Science as a special subject, the admissions committee reserves the right to give admissions to other students preferably with a degree in journalism, other social sciences, experience of social work or other relevant experience and/or degree in Social Work. 

The Central Library contains 3161 reference books on the subject while departmental library has 61 reference books. Also the number of e-books is 1,35,000/-; e-journals is 60,000/-; while number of subscribed journals is 6. 

Majority of our students come from rural Maharashtra. Journalism, teaching, civil service and voluntary sector are the main fields where the students of political science find employment. One will always find our past students in many reputed colleges in the state. Similarly, our alumni can be found in most large newspapers of the state. 

Many seek jobs in the field of teaching and research. Every year, a large number of students appear for the Eligibility Tests for teaching jobs (SET/NET). The department routinely counsels students appearing for these tests and also conducts focused orientation-cum-training programme for students. In the last ten years, more than fifty students have cleared the eligibility test.Civil service is another popular field for which students of political science often aspire. In the past five years, at least fifteen students have successfully entered the state/central civil service through various competitive examinations.Increasingly, our students are taking to journalism/communication courses either alongside their MA or after that. We are proud of many of our past students who are currently working in the media.