Dear Aspirant,

Jawaharlal Nehru University is a central university of National Importance that ranks 19th in the list of Universities. It has an accreditation of NAAC A++ and is renowned for its academics, research and other campus activities. It has always been one of the best in the country.

The entrance exam for M.A. in Political Science and International Studies have the same syllabus with minor changes. The collectively cover the following topics:

• Political Theory and Thought
• Comparative Politics and Political Analysis
• Indian Government and Politics
• Bureaucracy and Administration
• International Relations

The patterns are slightly different as well. M.A. Political Science has 7 questions out of which 3 are to be attempted. It is a 3 hour exam of 100 marks. The paper has long subjective type questions. For M.A. in International Relations, there are 20 questions from which you are supposed to attempt any 5 in 3 hours for 100 marks. These are also long subjective type questions.

You have to be thorough with Current Affairs and General Knowledge as many questions are based on that. For this the recommended materials are:

• Newspapers like Hindu and Indian Express
• Magazines like Frontline and Competition Success Review
• Online Portals like The Wire, Kafila, Caravan.
• Journals like Economic and Political Weekly
• Books in relations to Politics and International Relations

Dig into the Post-colonial and Contemporary Politics of India and also current International Affairs. Do contextual readings of postcolonial texts and watch documentaries, important speeches, UN proceedings etc.

While reading is important, also work on your writing skills. Importance of articulation is extremely important in JNU exam. You can refer

• Books of Sushila Ramaswamy and C.L. Wayper.
• For Indian Political Thought, read Thomas Pantham and B.R. Mehta.
• Oxford Companion to Indian Politics
• Books by Bidyut Chakravarty nd Rajendra Pandey for Indian Government and Politics
• Read major debates all year long for International Relations and for more theory-based reading you can refer to Baylis and Smith

Hope this helps. All the best!