PSIR Quote Kit

PSIR
Political Science & International

Relations Optional
PSIR QUOTE KIT

All Important Scholars &
Quotes / Statements Compiled
Topic wise
Shashank Tyagi
Faculty PSIR Optional, StudyiqIAS
Ex. Consultant, Office of Minister
Social Welfare, GNCTD
IMPORTANT QUOTES FROM POLITICAL THEORY

POLITICAL THEORY
“Politics is more difficult than Physics.” --- Einstein
“When I look at a question paper titled Political Science , I am more troubled with the title than the
questions asked.” --- Maitland.
“Political theory is not an escape mechanism but an arduous calling." --- John Plamanetz
"The theory (of politics) itself is divided into political science and political philosophy. " --- George
Catlin
"Every political scientist plays a double role. He is part scientist and part philosopher; no theorist can
make a lasting contribution to human knowledge unless he works in the realms of both science and
philosophy.” --- Andrew Hacker
"Philosophy differs from science in that science seeks explanation while philosophy seeks
justification.” --- Raphael
"Taken as a whole, the tasks of political theory are unquestionably demanding. In the absence of
their systematic pursuit, there is always the danger that politics will be left to the ignorant and
self-interested, or to those simply with a 'will to power'." --- David Held
"In politics, 'refusing to decide' is simply deciding to allow others to decide for you" --- Robert Dahl
(Modern Political Analysis; 1991)
“When we ignore values, it is like not making any difference between pure water and dirty water.” ---
Leo Strauss
“Political scholars sitting in ivory towers, perfecting their techniques have ignored the purpose for
which the technique is used.” --- David Easton
“Political theory is a never-ending conversation among theorists. And while the greatest of the
debates are never resolved, the criticisms which the writers make of each other are always most
vivid and illuminating. Politics is, after all, the most democratic of sciences.” --- Andrew Hacker
“Political philosophies are intellectual and moral creations. They contain high ideals, easy slogans,
dubious facts, crude propaganda, and sophisticated theories.” --- C. Wright Mills
“No political idea is ever intelligible save in the context of time” --- Laski
“Every thinker is the child of his times” --- Laski
“All sorts of political activities are influenced by the process of ‘change’ or ‘keep the situation as it is’.
Whenever we want to keep the situation as it is, then our objective is to stop any bad change and
when we are bringing changes, then we want to get better. This means that all types of political
activities are affected by ‘Better’ or ‘Bad’ thoughts but behind both these lies the thought for good.”
--- Leo Tolstoy
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STATE
"The State is the keystone of social architecture. It moulds the form and substance of the myriad
human lives with whose destinies it is charged." --- Laski
“The human consciousness postulates liberty; Liberty involves rights; rights demand the state”. ---
Green
“The role of the state is to hinder the hindrances that come in the path of liberty” --- T. H. Green
“Will not force is the basis of the state” --- T. H. Green
“The state does not create law of its own will; law exists prior to the state; the state grasps it and
gives it a definite shape.” --- Robert M. MacIver
"The government has power as the guardian of the constitution, as the executor of law, not in its
own right." --- Robert M. MacIver
“The state comes into the picture only when the interests of one group encroach upon another. The
state is only one of such associations, meant to serve definite interests. its authority is limited like its
obligations.” --- Robert M MacIver
"The West” created the cultural concept of "the East," which allowed the Europeans to suppress the
people of the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, and of Asia in general, from expressing and
representing themselves as discrete peoples and cultures. --- Edward Said (orientalism)
JUSTICE
“Each person possesses inviolability founded on the principle of justice that even the welfare of the
entire society can not override.” --- John Rawls
“If the society is not based on the principles of justice it will neither have peace nor stability. --- John
Rawls
“Natural distribution is neither just nor unjust, it is the institution of society controlled by human
beings that makes it just or unjust.” --- John Rawls
"Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties
compatible with a similar system of liberty for all” --- John Rawls
“Laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well arranged must be abolished, if they are
unjust.” --- John Rawls
“Justice can not be secured by isolated individuals seeking personal profit but by those who create a
deeper commonality through shared self understanding and mutual affection.” — Michael Sandel
“The well-being of the individual depends on the good of his community and therefore, the
recognition and protection of the group or cultural rights of the community is not less important
than the just distribution of the freedom and equality rights to the individuals.”- — Charles Taylor

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“Progressive taxation is bonded labour. It goes against the principle of dignity.” --- Robert Nozick
“State should be minimum. It should be limited to the security against the use of force, theft and
problems in implementing the agreements. More than this work will nullify the rights of a person, so
they will be unjust.” --- Robert Nozick
EQUALITY
“Equality is basically a process of equalisation. So first of all, equality implies the deficiency of special
rights. Secondly, it implies that everyone should get enough opportunities for growth.” --- Laski
“The world that we encounter in ordinary experience is the world in which we face choices between
ends equally ultimate, claims equally absolute, the realization of some of which must inevitably
involve the sacrifice of the other.” --- Isaiah Berlin
“Inequality is multi-dimensional and the elimination of one aspect of inequality often leads to the
exaggeration of other aspects of social, political and cultural inequalities.” --- Bryan S Turner
“The purpose of society would be frustrated at the outset if the nature of a mathematician met with
identical response with that of a bricklayer.” --- Laski
“The principle of equality, accordingly means that whatever conditions are guaranteed to me in the
form of rights shall also and in the same measure be guaranteed to others and that whatever rights
are given to others shall also be given to me.” --- Ernest Barker
“The right to equality is a right to the equal satisfaction of basic human needs, including the need to
develop and use capacities which are specifically human.” --- D. D. Raphael
“Equal resources means the possibility of having equitable resources, so that everyone can carry out
their conception of what is good or well being.” --- Ronald Dworkin
“Equality before law does not necessarily mean that the law will treat all alike, but rather it
determines that the law will be within the reach of everybody.” --- J. R. Lucas
“Nobody will be small enough that he will be unable to take the shelter of law and nobody will be big
enough that he will not be accountable to law.” ---- J.R. Lucas
“Political equality means the authority which exerts that power must be subject to rules of
democratic governance.” --- Laski
“If we want to maintain political stability and democratic form of government then we have to bring
economic equality by appropriate distribution of land, reforms in tax process and extension of
education facilities.” --- Robert Dahl
“By equality we should understand that the degree of power and riches need not be absolutely
identical for everybody, but that no citizen be wealthy enough to buy another and none poor enough
to be forced to sell himself.” --- Rousseau
“From the fact that people are very different, it follows that if we treat them equally, the result must
be inequality in their actual position and the only way to place them in an equal position would be to
treat them differently.” --- Hayek

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LIBERTY
“Liberty is a capacity to do something that is worth doing.” --- T. H. Green
“The role of the state is to hinder the hindrances that come in the path of liberty” --- T. H. Green
“Will not force is the basis of the state” --- T. H. Green
“Liberty demands that none should be placed at the mercy of others. By securing opportunities for
all to be their best selves, liberty makes equality real. Without liberty, equality lapses into dull
uniformity.” --- R. H. Tawney
“Human consciousness postulates liberty; liberty involves rights; rights demand the state.” --- T. H.
Green
“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.” ---
Jeremy Bentham
“Individual tends to equilibrate himself with his social environment by adaptation, and by inheritance
of that adaptation, until he attains, a perfect equilibrium.”--- Herbert Spencer ( concept of negative
liberty)
“An interest in liberty begins when men have ceased to be overwhelmed by the problem of sheer
existence; it is when they have a chance of leisure, economic sufficiency and leisure for thought,
these are primary conditions of a free man.” --- Laski
“There is only one solution of liberty and it lies in equality. Liberty without equality can degenerate
into a license of the few.” --- Pollard
“Whatever claims be made in the name of equality, it cannot be viewed in isolation, for the principle
stands by the principles of liberty and fraternity.” --- Ernest Barker
“We are entering an era of political equality. But economically and socially, we remain a deeply
unequal society. Unless we resolve this contradiction, inequality will destroy our democracy.” --- Dr.
B. R. Ambedkar
RIGHTS
“The social order which is not based on claims of a person is based on sand.” --- Herold Laski
"Real rights are a result of performance of duty." --- Mahatma Gandhi
“The human consciousness postulates liberty; Liberty involves rights; rights demand the state”. ---
Green
“Culture is not destiny” --- Donnelly
“Rights are those circumstances of human life without which, usually a person cannot do the best
development of his personality.” --- Laski
“Rights are that power of working of a man to achieve his objectives which is defined by the social

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community on the condition that he will do the welfare of the community also through these works.”
--- T.H. Green
“Legal right is such a benefit which is recognized and secured by the legal rule and to follow it is a
legal duty.” --- Salmond
“Right is such a claim of the individual which is recognized by the society and is implemented by the
state” --- Bosanke
“To help in the development of the personal power of the individual is the ultimate goal and
supreme political value of the state.” --- Ernest Barker
“An individual is boar with certain rights by birth. This means that these are not dependent on
society or state. These rights are given by God to his children as he gives them eye, nose, ear, hand
etc.” --- John Locke
“Restrained government is the best way to protect rights.” --- John Locke
“There can be but one supreme power, which is the legislative, to which all the rest are and must
subordinate, yet the legislative being only a fiduciary power to act for certain ends, there remains
still in the people a supreme power to remove or alter the legislative when they find the legislative
act contrary to the trust reposed in them.” --- John Locke
“Every right has to prove its reason in some such objectives of the society which cannot be achieved
without rights.” --- T. H. Green
“Rights, properly so called, are the creatures of law properly so called; real laws give birth to real
rights.” --- Jeremy Bentham
“People use rights, not only as the members of the state but as members of society also. Thus, to
limit the right to only the state is to destroy the personality of an individual and its protection.” ---
Laski
“Rights are not universal, these are limited to the time and circumstances and are related to the
specific social group. The basis of rights is a historical process instead of intellect and tolerance and a
specific individual has no role in its construction.” --- Historical theory of rights
"Men must learn to subordinate their self-interest to the common welfare. The privileges of some
must give way before the rights of all." --- Laski
“Real rights are the conditions of the social welfare and the reason of various rights is the fact that
what role they play for the coordinated development of the society” --- Hobhouse
“Main source of rights is the rule of Natural Right of self-ownership which means that every
individual should be considered as a means in itself.” --- Nozick
“Every person has a personal free area in which there should be no interference without his
consent.” --- Nozick
“There is no need to do welfare for the poor from the things produced by the able people because” if
I have complete right on myself, then I am the sole owner of my capability and the produce made by

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my capability. Thus, it is wrong to re-distribute these sources by tax process.” --- Nozick
“Every state is known by the rights it maintains.” --- Herold Laski
DEMOCRACY
“Democratic form is such an institutional management of reaching a political decision that gives one
an opportunity to get his general interests served by selecting their representative.” --- Schumpeter
“Democracy is the way to give people the greatest illusion of power , while allowing them
the smallest amount in reality” --- Bagehot
“Democracy is only an instrument of, selection of government, to rule or make law by different
methods and taking political decisions.” --- Macpherson
“In a democracy, political decisions are taken by the 'leadership', not by the people themselves; and
there is a free competition among the leaders for winning people's votes.” --- Joseph A. Schumpeter
“Democracy is something that gives the weak the same powers as the strong” --- Gandhi
“Democratic society is a prerequisite of a democratic government.” --- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
“Democracy is not merely a form of government. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence
towards fellow men” --- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
POWER, IDEOLOGY, LEGITIMACY
"Political power, properly called, is merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another,"
--- Engels
“There is a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power that is ceased
only in death.” --- Hobbes
"The proper scope of political science is not the study of the state or of any other specific
institutional complex, but the investigation of all associations insofar as they can be shown to
exemplify the problem of power" --- Frederick Watkins
"It is with power in society that political science is primarily concerned: its nature, basis, processes,
scope and results. The 'focus of interest' of the political scientist is clear and unambiguous, it centres
on the struggle to gain or retain power, to exercise power or influence over others, or to resist that
exercise" --- William A. Robson
“Political science is the study of the shaping and sharing of power” --- H. Lasswell and A. Kaplan
“Power denotes the ability of a person to fulfill his desires or to achieve his objectives” --- Bertrand
Russell
“Power is never the property of an individual; it belongs to a group and remains in existence only so
long as the group keeps together.” --- Hannah Arendt
"Power flows throughout the system like blood in the capillaries of our body." --- Foucault

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“Power flows from the barrel of the gun”. --- Mao Zedong
“Where there is power there is resistance”. --- Foucault
“Power is the ability to get one's wishes carried out despite opposition” --- H.V. Wiseman
“The question of power cannot be evaded or brushed aside, because it is the key question
determining everything in a revolution’s development, and in its foreign and domestic politics” ---
Lenin
“The passing of state power from one class to another is the first principle, the basic sign of
revolution, both in strictly scientific and in the practical political meaning of the term”. --- Lenin
"Where genuine power is absent, violence may emerge to fill the gap." --- Hannah Arendt
“Only power but never violence can create legitimate authority” --- Hannah Arendt
“Power is everywhere, diffused and embodied in discourse, knowledge and ‘regimes of truth’.” ---
Michel Foucault
'Power is everywhere’ and ‘comes from everywhere’ so in this sense it is neither an agency nor a
structure. Instead it is a kind of ‘metapower’ or ‘regime of truth’ that pervades society, and which is
in constant flux and negotiation. --- Michel Foucault
“Ideology is a false consciousness” --- Karl Marx
“The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas” --- Karl Marx
“Ideology is the characteristic of totalitarianism; it has nothing to do in an open society” --- Karl
Popper
‘‘In political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea’’ --- Michael Oakeshott
“The strongest is never strong enough to always be the master unless he transforms his strength into
right and obedience into duty.” --- Rousseau
“Rule was legitimate only when it operated to the benefit of the whole society rather than in the
selfish interests of the rulers.” --- Aristotle
“Power is the ability to get one’s wishes carried out despite opposition”. --- H. V. Wiseman
“Power as the capacity to command services or compliance of others.” --- Robert M. MacIver
POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
LIBERALISM
“Positive freedom consists of acting according to reason, achieving self-realisation or self-perfection.”

---Thomas Hill Green

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“Liberalism is not easy to describe, because it is hardly less a habit of mind than a body of doctrine.”
--- Laski
“An individual is free when he has the capacity to fulfill the law of his being.” --- Thomas Hill Green
SOCIALISM
“Socialism is a must use hat, whose original shape no one can define.” — C. E. M. JOAD
“Success lies in a steady advance rather than in the possibilities offered by a catastrophic crash”. ---
Eduard Bernstein
"For the right moment you must wait, as Fabius did, most patiently, when warring against Hannibal,
though many censured his delays; but when the time comes you must strike hard, as Fabius did, or
your waiting will be in vain and fruitless." --- Eduard Bernstein
MARXISM
“Everything is and is not, for everything is fluid, constantly changing, constantly coming into being
and passing away. All is flux and nothing stays still. Nothing endures but change.” --- Engels
“'Matter (and not the idea) was the essence of the universe, and that social institutions were the
manifestation of changing material conditions.” --- Marx
“First premise of all human existence, and therefore of all history, is that men must be in a position to
live in order to be able to make history.” --- Marx
FEMINISM
“I do not want women to have power over men, but power over themselves.” --- Simone de
Beauvoir
"One is not born, but rather becomes a woman." --- Simone de Beauvoir
“Personal is Political” --- Carol Hanisch
“Existence is prior to essence” --- Jean Paul Sartre
“Femininity is a construction of civilization, a reflection not of “essential” differences in men and

women but of differences in their situation.” --- Simone de Beauvoir
“Patriarchy is so normal, so universal that it appears natural” --- J.S. Mill
FASCISM
“Human beings are motivated by powerful emotions, their ‘will’ rather than the rational mind, and in
particular by what is called the ‘will to power’.” --- Friedrich Nietzsche
“Fascism is the destruction of liberal ideas and institutions in the interest of those who own the
instruments of economic power.” --- Laski

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“Each nation is animated by its collective spirit, its Volksgeist, a product of its unique history, culture
and particularly language. Communities are therefore organic or natural entities, shaped not by the
calculations and interests of rational individuals but by innate loyalties and emotional bonds forged
by a common past.” --- Johann Gottfried Herder
“If the testing ground of human existence is competition and struggle, then the ultimate test is war,
‘an unalterable law of the whole of life” --- Hitler
“War is to men what maternity is to women.” --- Mussolini
“Capitalism is a system by which capital uses the nation for its own purposes. Fascism is a system by
which the nation uses capital for its own purposes.” --- Oswald Mosley
“Everything for the state; nothing against the state; nothing outside the state.” --- Mussolini
INDIAN POLITICAL THINKERS
“Material well-being alone is supreme. For, spiritual good and sensual pleasures depends upon
material well-being.” --- Kautilya
“The ways of embezzlement are forty.” --- Kautilya
“In the happiness of his subjects, lies the happiness of the king; in the welfare of his subjects, lies his
welfare.” --- Kautilya
"When people are impoverished, they become greedy, when they are greedy, they become
disaffected, when disaffected, they voluntarily go to the side of the enemy and destroy their own
master." --- Kautilya
"One wheel alone does not turn and keep the Cart in motion." --- Kautilya
“A King should not hesitate to break any friendship or alliances that are later found to be
disadvantageous.” --- Kautilya
"For centuries we have been living on the same soil, eating the same fruit on the same land,
breathing the air of the same country." --- Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
"By the word qaum, I mean both Hindus and Muslims. What we see is that all of us, whether Hindus
or Muslims, lie on one soil, are governed by the one and the same ruler, have the same sources of
benefit and equally share the hardships of a famine". --- Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
"Truth is God and God is Truth." --- Gandhi
“For me truth is the sovereign principle which includes numerous other principles.” --- Gandhi
“Where there is Truth, there is also knowledge which is true. Where there is no Truth, there can be
no true knowledge.” --- Gandhi
“For me the only training in Swaraj we need is the ability to defend ourselves against the whole
world and to live our natural life in perfect freedom, even though it may be full of defects. Good
government is no substitute for self-government.” --- Gandhi, Young India.

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“Satya (truth) and ahimsa (non-violence) together make the parent trunk from which all innumerable
branches short out.” --- Gandhi
“Socialism is a beautiful word and so far as I am aware, in socialism all the members of society are
equal, none low, none high.” --- Gandhi
“The individual has a soul but the state is a soulless machine, the stale can never be weaned away
from violence to which it owes its existence”. It can never be weaned away from violence because its
basis has been force." --- Gandhi
“The state is not an end in itself, but a means of enabling people to better their conditions in every
department of life.” --- Gandhi
“I look upon the increase in the power of the state with the greatest fear, because although
apparently doing good by minimising exploitation, it does the greatest harm to mankind by
destroying individuality, which lies at the root of all progress.” --- Gandhi
“Democracy in this country is like a summer sapling. Without social unity, the roots of sapling cannot
be strengthened. If social unity is not achieved, this summer sapling of democracy will be rooted out
with a gust of summer wind.” --- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
“We must make our political democracy a social democracy as well. Political democracy cannot last
unless there lies at the lease of it social democracy.” --- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
WESTERN POLITICAL THINKERS
SOCRATES
“Unexamined life is not worth living.” --- Socrates
“Virtue is knowledge” --- Socrates
PLATO
“Until philosophers are the rulers or rulers learn philosophy, there is no end to the predicament of
human life.” --- Plato
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”
--- Heraclitus
“Reality is the shadow of Ideas.” --- Plato.
“State is individual writ large.” --- Plato

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“State does not come out of oak or rock, it is inherited in the mind of the people living in the state.”
--- Plato
“Those states are best governed where rulers are reluctant to govern, rather than the states where
rulers are eager to govern. ” --- Plato
“For no law or ordinance is mightier than knowledge.” --- Plato
“It will be foolish to limit the expert practitioner of medicine with the book of medicine.” --- Plato
“Justice is proper stationing and non-interference in each other's work. --- Plato
“One can be either Platonic, or anti-Platonic, but can never be non-platonic.” --- Karl Popper
ARISTOTLE
“One should not sacrifice good for the sake of best because best is unachievable.” --- Aristotle
“State comes into existence for the sake of good life and continues for the sake of good life.” ---
Aristotle
“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime” --- Aristotle
“Law is a reason without passion.” --- Aristotle
“State is the highest of all associations.” --- Aristotle
“Man is by nature a political animal.” --- Aristotle
“The state is by nature clearly prior to the family and the individual, since the whole is of necessity
prior to the part” --- Aristotle
“One who can live without the State, can be either beast or God, he cannot be man”. --- Aristotle
“Slavery is natural as well as desirable.” --- Aristotle
“Each man is an end in itself. No one ought to treat another person as a means to an end.” ---
Immanuel Kant
“The authority of a statesman is different from the authority of masters”. --- Aristotle
“Polity is the best practicable form of government.” --- Aristotle
“Polis exists by nature and that it is prior to the individual.” --- Aristotle
“It is unjust to treat equals unequally, as it is unjust to treat unequals equally.” --- Aristotle
“For that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the
hour of their birth, the same are marked out for subjection, others for rule”.” --- Aristotle (Politics)

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“The rule of law is preferable to that of a single citizen: even if it be the better course to have
individuals ruling, they should be made law-guardians or ministers of the laws”.” --- Aristotle
“The goodness in the sphere of politics is justice, and justice contains what tends to promote the
common interest.”” --- Aristotle
“Inequality arose when equals were treated unequally, and unequals equally.” --- Aristotle
“Plato was a friend; Truth was a greater friend’.” --- Aristotle
“The authority of a statesman is different from the authority of a master.” --- Aristotle
“The good of the many had to be based on the good of the self.” --- Aristotle
“The many are more incorruptible than the few; they are like the greater quantity of water which is
less easily corrupted than a little.” --- Aristotle
“Law is a reason without passion.” --- Aristotle
“Good ruler ought to be worldly-wise rather than wise in the world of ideas.” --- Aristotle
MACHIAVELLI
“The whole of the Renaissance is in Machiavelli. There is its lust for power, its admiration for success,
its carelessness of means, its rejection of medieval bonds, its frank paganism, its conviction of
national unity makes for national strength. Neither his cynicism nor his praise of craftiness is
sufficient to conceal the idealist in him.” --- Laski
“Men are ungrateful, fickle, deceitful, cowardly and avaricious.” --- Machiavelli
“Men love at their pleasure, but fear at the pleasure of the prince, who should therefore depend
upon that which is his own, not upon that which is of others. Yet, he may be feared without being
hated if he refrains from touching their property and their woman kind of his subjects, and if he
avoids bloodshed except when there is good cause and manifests justification for it. --- Machiavelli
“Men more easily forget the loss of their father than of their property.” --- Machiavelli
“The end of the state is material prosperity.” --- Machiavelli
“The ruler must imitate the fox and lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from the traps and the
fox cannot defend himself from wolves”. --- Machiavelli
“It is better for a prince to be feared than to be loved.” --- Machiavelli
“In politics, ends justify the means.” --- Machiavelli
“Machiavelli is narrowly dated and narrowly located.” --- Sabine.
“The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and
are often even more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.” --- Machiavelli

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HOBBES
“Covenants without swords are but mere words.” --- Hobbes
“Life of a man is a continuous search for power, after power, which ceases only with his death.” ---
Hobbes
“The state of nature is a state of war. Of all against all.” --- Hobbes
“In the state of nature, the life of man is nasty, poor, brutish, and short.” --- Hobbes
“In the state of nature, there is no scope for art, literature, letters, navigation, industry.” --- Hobbes
“I and fear were born together.” --- Hobbes
“I give up all of my rights, to this assembly or to this person (state) on the conditions that all will give
up their rights.” --- Hobbes
“Liberty is where law is silent.” --- Hobbes
“Leviathan is useless as a book of history and fruitless as a book of politics.” --- Vaughan
JOHN LOCKE
“Reason in man guides him, not to harm the other in his life, liberty, health and property.” --- John
Locke
“A government which violates its limitations is not worthy of obedience. --- John Locke
“No law, no liberty” --- John Locke
“The sole purpose for the formation of the commonwealth is the protection of property.” --- John
Locke
ROUSSEAU
Man is born free, but everywhere in chains.” --- Rousseau
“Man was Noble Savage.” --- Rousseau
“Thinking man is a depraved animal.” --- Rousseau
“Man should be forced to be free.” --- Rousseau
KARL MARX
“The ideal is nothing else than the material world reflected by the human mind, and translated into
forms of thought. --- Karl Marx
“Philosophers have only interpreted the world, what matters is to change it.” --- Karl Marx
"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce." --- Karl Marx

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“Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose except your chains.” --- Karl Marx
“Violence is the midwife of change. There has been no birth without blood.” --- Karl Marx
“Hegel is standing on his head, he has to stand on his feet to understand what is real.” --- Karl Marx
“It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but, on the contrary, their social
existence determines their existence”. --- Karl Marx
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”. --- Karl Marx
“Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word,
oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another.” --- Karl Marx
“In order to make history, man has to live. In order to live man has to eat. In order to eat, man has to
work .” --- Karl Marx
“It is not our consciousness that determines our existence, it is our existence that determines our
consciousness.” --- Karl Marx
“The history of all, hitherto existing societies is a history of class struggle.” --- Karl Marx
“Capitalists dig their own graves” --- Karl Marx
“The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas.” --- Karl Marx
“All the worth which the human being possesses, all spiritual reality, he possesses” only through the
state.” --- Hegel
HEGEL
“The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom.” --- Hegel
“State is a march of God on earth.” --- Hegel
“Real is rational. Rational is real.” --- Hegel
“Contradiction is the very moving principle of the world.” --- Hegel
“Pushpin is as good as poetry.” --- Bentham
J.S.MILL
“I regard utility as the highest appeal of all human actions, however it is utility in its widest sense. It
is based on the understanding of man as a progressive being.” --- J. S. Mill
“No state becomes great by dwarfing its own people.” --- J. S. Mill
“The sole end for which mankind is warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the
liberty of action of any of their number is self protection” --- J. S. Mill

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“The worth of a State… Is the worth of individuals composing it.” --- J. S. Mill
"All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility." --- J. S. Mill
“Patriarchy is so normal, so universal that it appears natural” --- J.S. Mill
“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied, it is better to be Socrates
dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.” --- J. S. Mill
“Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit.” --- J. S. Mill
“Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.” --- J S Mill
“If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that
one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind”.” --- J. S. Mill
“Men should not be trusted with absolute power. Such absolute power within the family and
marriage only led to brutalization of women.”--- J. S. Mill
“It is only by the collision of adverse opinions that the remainder of the truth has any chance of
being supplied.” --- J. S. Mill
“Mill is a Prophet of empty liberty” --- Barker
HANNAH ARENDT
“Power needs no justification, being inherent in the very existence of political communities; what it
does need is legitimacy ... Power springs up whenever people get together and act in concert, but it
derives its legitimacy from the initial getting together rather than from any action that then may
follow” --- Arendt
“Power is what keeps the public realm, the potential space of appearance between acting and
speaking men, in existence.” --- Arendt
“Power springs up between men when they act together and vanishes the moment they disperse” .
--- Arendt
VIEWS ON STATE
Plato: The state is a macrocosm in which the individual can find his proper place and perform the
duties for which he is best fitted.
Aristotle: The purpose of the state is mainly ethical. The state is 'a community of equals, aiming at
the best life possible.'
Hobbes: The purpose of the state to maintain order and protect the people and protect the right of
property.
Locke: The end goal of Government is the preservation of lives, liberties and estates.
Rousseau: The state is a ' social contract' to fulfill the 'general will’

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Bentham: Believes the state exists to secure the greatest good of the greatest number.
Herbert Spencer: Considers the state as 'Joint-stock protection company for mutual assurance.'
Marx: Expects the state to ‘wither away' after establishing' classless society.
Laski: The state is 'a fellowship of men. Its aim is 'enrichment of common life'. The aim of a state is to
be the greatest available welfare for the whole population and not for a class.

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17
IMPORTANT QUOTES FROM IGP

INDIAN NATIONALISM
“The memorials are not addressed to British, they were addressed to Indians” – Ranade
“We are at such a stage that our achievements are bound to be less and our failures too frequent.
We must contend or satisfy ourselves by serving our country by our failures. It is through these
failures that the struggle will emerge” – Gokhale
“Moderates were ‘leaders as well as learners’. There was no readymade critique of imperialism
available for them to understand.” – Bipin Chandra
“1857 revolt was a wholly unpatriotic and selfish Sepoy Mutiny with no native leadership and no
popular support” – Sir John Seeley
“The 1857 revolt was the first war of independence” – VD Savarkar.
PERSPECTIVES OF INM
“It is hard to think of any political phenomenon which remains so puzzling and about which there is
less analytic consensus. No widely accepted definition exists. No one has been able to demonstrate
decisively either its modernity or its antiquity....[any collection of writings on nationalism] finds the
authors more often with their backs to one another, staring out at different, obscure horizons” –
(Benedict Anderson, “Introduction” in Gopal Balakrishnan, Mapping the Nation)
“Nationalism is primarily a political principle, which holds that the political and the national unit
should be congruent. The nations laid the claims to have a state of their own”. – Ernest Gellner
“Nations are not something eternal. They have begun; they will end. They will be replaced, in all
probability, by a European confederation.” – Renan
“A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of, formed on the basis of a common
language, territory, economic life and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.” –
Stalin
“The ancient Hindus were the greatest nation that has yet flourished on the earth.” – Har Bilas Sarda
“India possessed everything which modern Britain could claim: big empires, enduring and successful
republics, representative elective institutions, strong parliaments, a constitutional monarchy, and
supremacy of Law above the executive authority.” – K.P. Jaiswal
“India was always a nation.” – Aurbindo Ghosh
“Fundamentally India has been a nation for the last 2,000 years” – Lajpat Rai
“Nationalism is not always the product of endogenous factors; it can also be shaped by external or
exogenous factors.” – Tom Nairn (The Break-up of Britain: Crisis and Neo- Nationalism)
“There is only one class in the state, the volk, and the King belongs to this class as well as the
peasant.” – Herder

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“Indian nationalism was built on preexisting sense of territoriality, a traditional patriotism

rationalised by indigenous ideas of public morality and ethical government.” – C.A Bayly
“This is the first and most essential thing to learn about India – that there is not and never was an
India or even any country of India, possessing according to European ideas, any sort of unity,
physical, political, social or religious: no Indian nation, no ‘people of India’, of which we hear so
much.” – John Strachey (India: Its Administration and Progress)
“The notion that India is a nationality rests upon that vulgar error which political science principally
aims at eradication. India is not a political name, but only a geographical expression like Europe or
Africa. It does not mark the territory of a nation and a language, but the territories of many nations
and many languages.” – John Seeley (The Expansion of England)
“Narrow-minded nationalism and spitefulness, born of impotence and frustration are driving them
towards the betrayal of the ideals they are believed to cherish.” – MN ROY on Congress
“I must frankly confess that I am a Socialist and a republican.” – Nehru
“India's immediate goal should be considered in terms of the ending of the exploitation of her
people.” – Nehru
“Constitutional methods in front of alien bureaucracy is a political suicide.” – Tilak
“Constitutional methods reflect ‘intellectual bankruptcy of the leaders.” – Aurobindo Ghosh
“Indians will have to strike at the roots of colonialism. That is boycotting the foreign goods and
adopting Swadeshi.” – Aurobindo Ghosh
“Constitutional methods will not work because India does not have a constitutional government.” –
Pandit Nehru
MAKING OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
“The Indian Constitution is a ‘Lawyers' Paradise'.” – Ivor Jennings
"The Constituent Assembly was a one party body in an essentially one party country. The Assembly
was the Congress and the Congress was India." – Granville Austin
“The constituent assembly is not merely a body of representatives, but a nation on the move which
has a huge task of creating a new future of India throwing away the shell of its past political and
social structure and fashioning for itself a new constitutional structure and future of its own making.”
– Jawaharlal Nehru
“The first task of this Assembly (Constituent Assembly) is to free India through a new Constitution, to
feed the starving people and clothe the naked masses and to give each Indian the fullest opportunity
to develop himself according to his capability.” – Jawaharlal Nehru
“The framing of a Constitution calls for the highest statecraft. Those entrusted with it have to realise
the practical needs of the government and have, at the same time, to keep in view the ideals, which
have inspired the nation. They have to be men of vision, yet they cannot forget the grass roots.” –
Justice H. R. Khanna

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“Without the removal of the taint of untouchability Swaraj is a meaningless term.” – Ambedkar
“We have come here, notwithstanding the opposition of those who stand for complete
independence”. – M A Jinnah (On attending RTC)
“With the adoption of the Constitution by the members of the Constituent Assembly on November
26, 1949, India became the largest democracy in the world. By this act of strength and will, Assembly
members began what was perhaps the greatest political venture since that originated in Philadelphia
in 1787.” – Granville Austin
“The Constitution derives directly from the Government of India Act of 1935 from which, in fact,
many of its provisions are copied almost textually”. – Sir Ivor Jennings
“The Constitution is essentially the Government of India Act of 1935 with only adult franchise
added”. – P.R. Deshmukh
“That is exactly the kind of Constitution Mahatma Gandhi did not want and did not envisage”. –
Hanumanthaiya
“We wanted the music of Veena or Sitar, but here we have the music of an English band.” –
Hanumanthaiya
“The Constitution is a slavish imitation of the west, much more - a slavish surrender to the west” –
Lokanath Misra
“The ideals on which this draft Constitution is framed have no manifest relation to the fundamental
spirit of India. This Constitution would not prove suitable and would break down soon after being
brought into operation” – Lakshminarayan Sahu
“The emblem and the crest that we have selected for our assembly is an elephant.” – H.V. Kamath
“I should, however, like to say that the draft of the articles that have been brought before the House
by Dr. Ambedkar seems to my mind to be far too ponderous like the ponderous tomes of a law
manual. A document dealing with a constitution hardly uses so much padding and so much of
verbiage. Perhaps it is difficult for them to compose a document which should be, to my mind, not a
law manual but a sociopolitical document, a vibrating, pulsating and life-giving document. But, to our
misfortune, that was not to be, and we have been burdened with so much of words, words and
words which could have been very easily eliminated.” – P.R. Deshmukh
SALIENT FEATURES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
PREAMBLE
“Preamble is the ‘identity card' of the Constitution.” – N.A. Palkhivala
“Preamble is horoscope of the constitution” – K.M. Munshi
“The Preamble to our Constitution expresses what we had thought or dreamt for so long.” – Sir
Alladi Krishnaswami
“The Preamble is the ‘horoscope of our sovereign democratic republic.” – K.M. Munshi

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“The Preamble is the most precious part of the Constitution. It is the soul of the Constitution. It is a
key to the Constitution. It is a jewel set in the Constitution. It is a proper yardstick with which one can
measure the worth of the Constitution.” – Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava
“Preamble is the key-note to the Constitution.” – Sir Ernest Barker
“Preamble resembles the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, but is more
than a declaration. It is the soul of our Constitution, which lays down the pattern of our political
society. It contains a solemn resolve, which nothing but a revolution can alter.” – M. Hidayatullah
AMENDABILITY
"An unamendable constitution is a worst tyranny of time " – Mulford
"Ordinarily, federal constitutions are rigid but the Indian constitution is a combination of flexibility
and rigidity." – Dr. Ambedkar
"While we want this constitution to be solid and permanent, there should be certain flexibility. If you
make everything rigid, you stop the growth of the nation. The growth of living, organic vital people."
-- Pt. Nehru
SECULARISM
"Indian secularism should be brought out of the pale shadow of Sarva Dharma Sambhava and should
be getting some more bold form of secularism.” – Romila Thapar
“Indian secularism is based on principled distance rather than equi-distance”. – Rajeev Bhargava
“The politics of religion and politics of caste are the two sides of the same coin. Politics of caste
automatically leads to communalism. When one party plays the "Caste card" the other party has to
play the "Religious card". – C.P Bhambri
“Secularism cannot be subtracted from the wider conceptual context of which it forms one part. It
can only be understood as an intrinsic concept of the historical, constitutional, and political practices
of democracy, freedom, equality, justice and rights.” – Neera Chandoke
“There is no utility of adopting western model of separation; rather we should be promoting greater
dialogue between religions.” – Ashis Nandy
“Debates on reservation in India generate "More heat than light". – R.C. Guha
“UCC is not a silver bullet that will bring justice automatically.” – Flavia Agnes (Jurist)
“Any reform of Muslim Personal laws should not be based on the self assumed arrogance of Hindu
customs and traditions. In many ways, Muslim personal laws are more advanced than Hindu personal
laws e.g. among Muslims, all wives have equal status. Bigamy is more in practice among Hindus. Until
recently the second wife had no protection.” – Nivedita Menon (Political scientist)
“Secularisation is the prerequisite for the success of the policy of secularism.” – T.N. Madan

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FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
“Real rights are a result of the performance of duty”. – Mahatma Gandhi
“Rights are given to man by nature. They are not dependent on the state.” – John Locke
“Constitutional morality cannot be martyred at the altar of social morality.” – The Supreme Court
“Right to equality is the first fundamental right” – Dworkin
“Evolution of human society is a clear understanding of the idea of equality. The ideal of equality is
linked with human dignity” – Alexis de Tocqueville
“Inequality in society is the main cause of revolution in any kind of political system or society.” –
Aristotle
“Existing structures of social discrimination must be evaluated through the prism of constitutional
morality. The effect and endeavour are to produce a society marked by compassion for every
individual.” – SC in Sabarimala judgement
“Fundamental rights declared by no consistent philosophy” – Ivor Jennings
“The concept of constitutional morality implied the harmonious interaction between the governing
and governed, including the peaceful settlement of dissent faced from the latter and conflict of
interests arising between them without indulging in any major confrontations or resorting to violent
revolutions.” – Dr Ambedkar
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION
“I disapprove of what you say but defend to my death your right to say so.” – Voltaire
"Those who sacrifice liberty for the sake of security will have none." – Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin
Franklin
“Rights can exist only in a tolerant society. Toleration is a precognition for Freedom of speech and
expression. Freedom of speech and expression means respecting views with which we may totally
disagree.” – Noam Chomsky
MEDIA
“Without high ethical standards, the media is not only stripped of its social responsibility, it becomes
a dangerous entity.” – Pulitzer
"I will support free press with all dangers involved in the wrong use of freedom rather than repressed
and regulated press." – Nehru
"I would prefer a free press without the government rather than a government without free press." –
Thomas Jefferson
"Freedom of media is an article of faith sanctified by the constitution and indispensable for the
future of the nation." – Rajiv Gandhi

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RESERVATION
“Reservation is a highly politicised issue with no scope for rational discourse.” – RC Guha
“OBC reservation as political hypocrisy. Caste is the reality of Indian politics but quota will make caste
the only reality.” – Pratap Bhanu Mehta
“Govt. not only protects discrimination rather consolidates separate identity.” – Marc Gallenter
“Policy and politics of social justice have reached a dead end. However, the journey was not entirely
justified and wasted. Reservations in India have been the largest, strongest and comparatively
successful programmes.” – Yogendra Yadav
“The contemporary logic of reservation policy precludes judicial intervention. The kind of boundary
setting the court did in the Mandal case would be probably seen as unwanted interference.” – Suhas
Palshikar
“Now it is not just about competitive claims over public resources like education, state employment,
it is more about a new emerging power sharing where proportionality governs.” – Suhas Palshikar
“Claims of OBC reservation have come to stand on the logic of economic backwardness rather than
social injustice.” – Suhas Palshikar
FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
“The legal utility of the fundamental duties is similar to that of the Directives as they stood in the
Constitution of 1950, while the directives were addressed to the state without any sanction, so are
the duties addressed to the citizens, without any legal sanction for their violation.” – D.D.Basu
“Moral value of Fundamental duties is not to smother rights but to achieve democratic balance and
make people conscious of duties along with rights.” – Indira Gandhi
“Fundamental duties only have symbolic relevance.” – Suhas Palashikar
DPSP
“DPSP are the novel features of the Indian Constitution.” – Ambedkar
“Directives are like giving provisions to the Constitution.” – L.M.Singhvi
“If DPSP were made enforceable, the country would have gone into a constitutional crisis.” – B.N.Rau
“DPSPs are pious superfluities” – K. T. Shah
“DPSP is a variable dustbin of sentiments.” –T.T. Krishnamachari
“DPSP impacts continuity in our national policy.” – Justice Sathasivam

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PRINCIPAL ORGANS OF THE UNION AND STATE GOVERNMENT
LEGISLATURE
“Legislative councils are a way to increase the political space” – Yogendra Narain, former
Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha
“Legislature of a nation is the mirror of its society and people. It is the visible face of democracy in
India.” – Shankar and Rodriguez in their Book – “The Indian Parliament: A Democracy at Work
PRIME MINISTER
“The Government is the master of the country and he (Prime Minister) is the master of the
Government.” – R.G. Greaves
“He is, rather, a sun around which planets revolve.” – Ivor Jennings
“The Prime Minister is “the steering wheel of the ship of the state.” – Ramsay Muir
CABINET
“The Cabinet is the pivot around which the whole political machinery revolves”. – Sir John Marriott
“The Cabinet is the central directing instrument of the Government.” – L. S. Amery
“The Cabinet is a hyphen that joins, the buckle that binds the executive and legislative departments
together” – Bagehot
“The Cabinet is the core of the British Constitutional System. It provides unity to the British system of
Government”. – Sir Ivor Jennings
GRASSROOT DEMOCRACY
“Bad Panchayat Raj is worse than no Panchayat Raj”. – Mani Shankar Aiyar Committee
“Political reservation will not lead to true empowerment of women but it will give rise to so-called
Pati Panchayats”. – Sudha Pai
“Reservations for women have reduced prejudice against female leadership.” – Rohini Pandey
“Reservation in panchayats has been a key for women’s social mobility.” – Gabrielle Kruks Wisner
“Districts with female sarpanch/Pradhan have shown significantly greater investments are made in
public utility goods like drinking water.” – Esther Duflo and Raghavendra Chattopadhyay
“People living in fifth scheduled areas were excited as they hoped that the new legislation will ensure
their control over their resources, land, mines and minerals, minor forest produce etc. But their
reality did not change even after 25 years of this law.” – Dayamani Barla
“Local-Self Governments in India suffer from ‘low equilibrium trap’.” – Economic Survey 2018

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“The provisions of PESA appeared to come as a saviour which is designed to erase the historical
injustices done to the tribal community.” – Sharma
“There cannot be a smart city without a smart municipality.” – Isher Judge Ahluwalia
“To achieve the goal of a 5 trillion economy, India needs to sustain an 8 % rate of growth. It cannot
be achieved without structural transformation in urban administration” – Isher Judge Ahluwalia
“Grassroot movements in India grow because of the capitalist model of development on one-hand
and availability of democratic space on the other. As the capitalist space is limited, people resort to
democratic space to further their grievances.” – Amrita Basu
“Globalisation has been a huge factor in the revival of grassroot movements around the world in a
big way, due to the destructive forces of development.” – Smitu Kothari
STATUTORY INSTITUTIONS/COMMISSIONS
NHRC
“NHRC’s lack of independence makes it a lap dog, instead of a watchdog”. – Gonsalves
“Most instances of human rights violations that the NHRC investigates are against the police and,
ironically, the commission comes under the Home Ministry.” – Gonsalves
“NHRC is “the biggest post office in India” (forwarding complaints to the government and its replies
to complainants).” – Justice V R Krishna Iyer
“NHRC had assumed a stance far too grandiose not commensurate with its resources and internal
will and was a mere showpiece to convince the world that the government is committed to human
rights protection.” – Rajeev Dhavan
“Political will to end the scourge of caste discrimination is needed at all levels of government to alter
traditional attitudes and turn well-meaning laws into reality.” – Human Rights Watch
“NHRC takes cognizance of cases based solely on media reports and not through its on-field work at
the grassroots level.” – Vivek Sheoran
“Union government needs to increase the Commission’s power so that it can have more teeth, rather
than remaining a “toothless tiger”. – HL Dattu
NCW
“The government has never taken NCW seriously. The policy is to adjust the commission somewhere
in the process.” – Girija Vyas, a former NCW chairperson
“The government has constrained the commission by design, but the members have decided to limit
themselves even more.” – Sadhna Arya
“Today, the commission is desperately fighting for its own empowerment.” – Lalitha
Kumaramangalam

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CAG
“Public account committee must be consulted while appointing the CAG” – Amitabh Mukhopadhyay
“Bring all public-private partnerships (PPPs), Panchayati Raj Institutions, and government-sponsored
societies within CAG's jurisdiction” – Former CAG Vinod Rai
FEDERALISM
“Federation is a system which consists of two sets of governments which are independent,
co-ordinate and distinct.” – K.C. Wheare
“Federation is a political contrivance intended to reconcile national unity with the maintenance of
State Rights.” – Prof. A.V. Dicey
“The partition of legislative and executive power of the centre and units is the main criteria of
federation.” – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
“The constitution made India “a quasi-federal union with several important features of a unitary
government.” – K.M.Munshi
“Indian federalism was a kind of cooperative federalism where bargaining took place between the
centre and the states, but ultimately a solution came out and both agreed to cooperate.” –
W.H.Morris Jones
“India has moved from unilateral centralised decision-making in the first wave of COVID to something
that approximates unilateral decentralised decision-making by default in the second wave.”-- Louise
Tillin
CASTE, RELIGION AND ETHNICITY
CASTE
“Caste forms the mosaic of Indian politics. Caste does not differ from religion and both are examples
of identity politics.” – Christophe Jaffrelot
“Indians do not cast their vote rather vote their caste.” – Christophe Jaffrelot
“Caste based mobilisation is India’s ‘silent revolution’.” – Christophe Jaffrelot
“OBC is loose conception, which makes it keep on changing.” – Marc Gallenter
“Indian politics is to be read and interpreted with reference to the direction of OBC politics in India.”
– Satish Deshpande
“Caste is one of the determinant but not the only determinant” – Milan Vaishnav
“In a traditional society like India, mobilisation of the people of identity like religion and caste is
natural.” – Rajni Kothari

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“Caste is present in the minds of Indians at a subconscious level. So it is difficult to think that it will
not play a role in Indian politics.” –M. N. Srinivas
“When political patronage is based on caste, how can we think of caste free politics?” – Kanchan
Chandra
“In India, economic development is not the main basis of voting. People are driven by caste and
religion.” – Abhijeet Banerjee
RELIGION
“Voters in India are looking for identity and politics.” – Yogendra Yadav
“The politics of Hindutva is not recent. Even Congress has followed the politics of Soft-Hindutva along
with orthodox Muslims.” – Pratap Bhanu Mehta
“Indian model of secularism, itself allowed space for legitimization of communalism.” – Neera
Chandoke
“Communal riots are not spontaneous events. There is a well-developed machinery in the country.
They are not riots, but programs of targeted violence.” – Paul Brass
“State policies promote communalism. State actions, public policy make one community insecure
and nurtures the feeling that others are appeased and they are being discriminated against.” –
Asghar Ali Engineer
ETHNICITY
“Democracy in traditional society leads to mobilisation on ethnic lines. The traditional elites, fearful
of losing their privilege try to mobilise people on ethnic lines.” – Atul Kohli
“Ethnicity is not a challenge to territorial integrity because identity markers of Indians are not
permanent. Their identities are fluid, and can be changed by the political class as per convenience. If
sections of Indians can be united on the basis of language, the unity can be broken on the basis of
caste or religion.” – Prof. S. D. Muni
“When democracy is introduced in a traditional society, ethnic basis of mobilisation is taken by the
elites.” – Rudolph and Rudolph
“Ethnic movements are assertions by marginalised communities.” – Charles Taylor
“The attempts by the state to homogenise the population, actions like ethnic mapping make people
conscious of ethnic identities.” – Neera Chandoke
“Political patronage in India is based on Ethnic head counts.” – Kanchan Chandra
“Ethnicity is not the choice of the people but preference of political parties.” – Prof. S D Muni
“Ethnicity is not a popular passion but the preference of elites in India.” – Prof. Dipankar Gupta

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PARTY SYSTEM
REGIONAL PARTIES
“Rise of regional political parties is an eternal theme of Indian politics. Regional parties operate
within a limited geographic area and bank on language, minority, religion etc. Number of regional
parties in India is much larger due to Diversity.” – Milan Vaishnav
“Regional parties are rooted in regional ground. They should not be seen as a by-product of
regionalism, rather a phenomenon in its own right. It is a result of linguistic reorganisation, decline in
the congress system, uneven development etc.” – Sudha Pai
RISE OF BJP
“Congress is not in a state of decline, rather the 2014 election marks the death of Congress.” – Suhas
Palashikar
“For long, Indian politics was based on the agenda of secularism and minorities. The present Indian
politics is a rejection of both minorities and Congress' version of secularism and the assertion of
majoritarianism in combination with the concern for good governance and development.” – Milan
Vaishnav
“Rise of BJP is not a religious phenomenon, nor it is a strictly political phenomenon. It is happening in
the backdrop of the democratic transformation taking place in the country. As lower castes and OBCs
are mobilising themselves, the amorphous Indian middle class becomes anxious. Even lower class
Hindus got attracted towards BJP’s majoritarian rhetoric, constructed in the name of nationalism,
cultural pride, order, development and leadership.” – Hanson
“With the decline of Congress, people were left with two options: Left or BJP. Left ideology lacked
imagination. Left also lacked leadership. Right appeared to be a better option from all perspectives.”
– James Manor
“It is surprising that left in India could never take root despite the prevalence of mass poverty. It is
also surprising that youth in India is attracted towards the right rather than toward left.” – Praful
Bidwai
COALITION GOVERNMENT
“Coalition is a ‘power sharing arrangement’.” – William Riker
“Coalition governments may prevent good reform, but, by the same principle, also prevent badly
crafted ideas rammed down by a strong executive.” – Shruti Rajagopalan
“Rise in inequality is slower in countries that have coalition governments because Coalition
governments redistribute resources proportionately.” – Prof Torben Iversen
“If politics is the art of compromise, then coalition politics is the chemistry of functional autonomy.
Coalition in India may be the most representative and peaceful way of running a nation of such vast
diversity, social and economic inequities.” – Sanjoy Hazarika

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ELECTORAL BEHAVIOUR
“The study of electoral behaviour in India is a challenging task because of size and diversity.” – Milan
Vaishnav
“People in India are moving from identity politics to identity plus politics. It includes concern for
identity as well as development.” – Yogendra Yadav
“The credit for success for India’s democracy goes to the great common sense shown by ordinary
voters in India.” – M. P. Singh
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
“Social movements can be viewed as collective enterprises to establish a new order of life.” –
Herbert Blumer
“There is no human rights movement in India. It faces the challenge of legitimacy crisis. What we find
is not a human rights movement but human rights industries.” – Upendra Bakshi
“Reservation will not lead to true empowerment of women but it will give rise to so-called “Pati
Panchayats”. – Sudha Pai
"Polluted skies, dead rivers, disappearing forests, falling water tables, ever increasing hills of
untreated waste, displaced peasants and tribes is what we see after 35 years of Chipko Movement" –
R.C Guha
“Environment is not about saving tigers and planting trees. Environment is about democracy.
Without giving powers to the people, decentralisation planning and Grassroot democracy, we won’t
be able to achieve sustainable development.” – Sunita Narayan.
(Note:- This document will be updated time to time and many more important quotes will be
added)

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IMPORTANT QUOTES FROM INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COMPARATIVE POLITICS
COMPARATIVE POLITICS: NATURE AND MAJOR APPROACHES
“Polity is the best practicable form of government.” – Aristotle
NATURE
"Comparative Politics is the study of patterns of national governments in the contemporary world." –
John Blondel
“Political behaviour is the authoritative allocation of values.” – Easton
“The mystique of the empire was that if the 'civilised' nations would bring the benefits of the
markets, education and Christianity to the 'savages', the latter would prosper.” – David Apter
"A modern society is characterised, among other things, by a comparatively high degree of
urbanisation, wide-spread Literacy, comparatively high per capita income, expensive geographical
and social mobility, a relatively high degree of commercialization and industrialization of the
economy, an extensive and penetrative network of mass communication media, and in general by
widespread participation and involvement by members of the society in modern, social and
economic process." – Coleman
APPROACHES
POLITICAL ECONOMY
“Political Economy is the science of the laws governing the production and exchange of the material
means of subsistence in human society.” – Friedrich Engels
POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY
“Political Sociology is like a marriage of political science and sociology, wherein, the child has
characteristics of both disciplines, but also different from its parents.” – Prof AK Mukopadhyaya
“Political sociology starts with society and examines how it affects the state.” – SM Lipset
LIMITATIONS OF COMPARATIVE POLITICS
"Look beyond description to more theoretically relevant problems; look beyond the formal
institutions of government to political processes and political functions; and look beyond the
countries of Western Europe to the new nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America." – Sidney Verba
“Political scientists were in their ivory towers perfecting their methodology unconcerned with the
normative and relevant issues that had arisen.” – Easton

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POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION
POLITICAL PARTIES
“There is no alternative to party government, save dictatorship, in any state of modern size”. –
Professor Harold J. Laski
“Party is a keystone political institution in representative regime” – Zoya Hasan
“Party is a body of men united for promoting by their joint endeavours the national interest upon
some particular principles in which they are all agreed.” – Edmund Burke
“It is the task of a political party to reconcile and aggregate their competing demands of interest
groups and put them into coherent programmes and action plans. Thus political parties prevent the
interest groups from directly dominating the decision-making apparatus and process in a country.” –
Professor S.R. Maheshwari
“If liberal states are dictators for capitalists, the socialist states are dictators for proletariats.” – Karl
Marx
“There is no alternative to party governments which save us from dictatorship, in any state of a
modern size where people follow the party in a systematically organised way.” – Professor Harold J.
Laski
“What distinguishes parties is their emphasis on linkage. Parties are seen, both by their members
and by others, as agencies for forging links between citizens and policy-makers.” – A.H. Somjee
“Party is a body of men united for promoting by their joint endeavours the national interest upon
some particular principles in which they are all agreed.” – Edmund Burke
“Any political group who is identified by official label, present at the election, and has the capability
of placing candidates through elections for public office, is a party.” – G. Sartori
“Political parties are big or small groups of people organised to establish their legitimate control over
the government of the country, through the process of elections.” – Professor Harold J. Laski
PRESSURE GROUPS
“An interest group is a collection of individuals who try to realise their common objectives by
influencing public policy.” – Hitchner & Levine
“Pressure groups are attitude groups that make certain claims upon other groups in the society.” –
David Truman
“…the pressure groups are, by and large, autonomous and politically neutral bodies, which bargain
with the political parties and the bureaucracy irrespective of the political complexion of the
government in power.” – S.E. Finer
“Modern democracy is everywhere characterised by the presence of numerous pressure/interests

groups & associations.” – Roche & Stedman

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“When interest groups act at the political level and create pressure on the government they are
called Pressure groups.” – J.D. Reynaud
“It is the task of a political party to reconcile and aggregate their competing demands of interest
groups and put them into coherent programmes and action plans.” – S.R. Maheshwari
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
“Social movements can be viewed as collective enterprises to establish a new order of life.” –
Herbert Blumer
“Social movement is a loosely organised effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal
within the limit of constitution.” – Turner and Kilhan
GLOBALISATION
“Globalisation refers to processes whereby social relations acquire relatively distanceless and
borderless qualities, so that human lives are increasingly played out in the world as a single place.” –
Steve Smith and John Baylis
"Globalisation refers to all these processes by which the peoples of the world are incorporated into a
single world society, a global society." – Martin Albraw
“Globalisation is also defined as compression of time and space.” – Anthony Giddens
“Integration of the world into one single unit or a ‘Global village.” – M. Mcluhan
“Globalisation is What we in the Third World have for centuries called Colonisation.” – Martin Lehor
“Countries which did not join globalisation have performed the worst.” – Amartya Sen
“Globalization has resulted in the deepening of poverty and inequality, prosperity for a few countries
and people, marginalization and exclusion for the many.” – Professor Ramesh Thakur in his book
‘The dark side of globalization’
“Globalization did not ensure women empowerment as it did with male empowerment.
Globalization has focused and promoted male dominance.” – Simone de Beauvoir
“Globalization is a mutant form of colonization.” – Arundhati Roy (Capitalism: a ghost story)
“Covid crisis has written the death note of Globalization” – C. Rajamohan
“Covid has shown the fractures in current global international systems.” – PM Modi (NAM summit)
“Covid 19 has written the death note of liberal world order.” – C Raja Mohan
“As we seek globalisation, we must ensure it is a version that leaves no one behind. We must
seek globalisation that serves diversity and unique perspectives that make this world richer. We
must seek technologies that serve humankind and are not designed only to further wealth and
prosperity for a few.” – Samir Saran

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“Sovereignty is certainly back and solidarity is under stress. Although all nations have acknowledged
the global imperative in dealing with the virus, they have put the nation first. Sovereignty is certainly
back and solidarity is under stress.” – C. Raja Mohan
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
REALIST
“The behaviour of the state as a self-seeking egoist is understood to be merely a reflection of the
characteristics of the people that comprise the state.” – Thucydides
“Realism is timeless wisdom.” – Barry Buzan
"The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must" – Thucydides
“Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and
then they attack others.” – Machiavelli
“Is it better to be loved than feared or feared than loved?” – Machiavelli
“All negotiations in these world institutions are Quasi negotiations.” – Joseph Nye
“Even if realism does adequately explain the few most important things, there is no reason to restrict
the discipline to those….[This] would be equivalent to restricting medicine to studying and treating
only the leading causes of death.” – Donnelly
“Explanation rather than prediction is expected from a good social science theory, since social
scientists cannot run controlled experiments that give the natural sciences so much predictive
power.” – Waltz
"They look for opportunities to alter the balance of power by acquiring additional increments of
power at the expense of potential rivals,since the greater the military advantage one state has over
other states, the more secure it is." – Mearsheimer
"Great powers recognize that the best way to ensure their security is to achieve hegemony now, thus
eliminating any possibility of a challenge by another great power.” – John Mearsheimer
“Realism is only a partial description of international politics, owing to its deeply embedded
masculinist bias.” – Tickner
“Only a misguided state would pass up an opportunity to be the hegemon in the system because it
thought it already had sufficient power to survive.” – John Mearsheimer
IDEALIST
“Institutions can convert a jungle into a zoo.” – Woodrow Wilson
“Integration is the tendency toward the voluntary creation of larger political units, each of which
self-consciously eschews the use of force in the relations between the participating units and
groups". – Haas

34
"Different issues generate different coalitions, both within governments and across them, and
involve different degrees of conflicts. Politics does not stop at the water's edge". – Keohane
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST
“There is no objective international world apart from the practices and institutions that states
arrange among them.” – Wendt
"Self-help and power politics are institutions, not essential features of anarchy”. – Wendt
EMANCIPATORY SCHOOL
“World is not in complete anarchy now.” – Hedley Bull (English school)
DEMOCRATIC PEACE THEORY
“If all nations were republics, it would end war because there would be no aggressors” – Immanuel
Kant
“In democracy people are treated as ends, not as means.” – Michael Doyle
“It’s all but impossible when they don’t share basic political and economic values as there are
numerous actors on stage.” – Ian Bremmer
SYSTEMS THEORY
"An international system is a pattern of relations between the basic units of world politics which is
characterised by the scope of the objectives pursued by these units and of the tasks performed
among them, as well as by the means used in order to achieve those goals and perform those tasks".
– Stanley Hoffman (System and Process in International Politics)
KEY CONCEPTS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
BALANCE OF POWER
“Right as world goes is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what
they can and the weak suffer what they must.” – Thucydides
“Whenever the term Balance of Power is used without qualification, it refers to an actual state of
affairs in which power is distributed among nations with approximately equality” — Hans. J.
Morgenthau.
“The notion of the balance of power is notoriously full of confusions”. – Wight
“Balance of Power is nearly a fundamental law of politics.” — Martin Wright
“Balance of Power is a basic principle of international relations.” — Palmer and Perkins
“Balance of Power has many times prevented war. War breaks out only when any state assumes
excessive power.” — Fredric Geniz

35
“As long as the nation-state system is the prevailing pattern of international society, balance of power
policies will be followed in practice, and in all probability, they will continue to operate, even if
effective supranational groupings on a regional or world level are formed” — Palmer and Perkins.
POWER
“Whatever may be the ultimate end, power is always the immediate end of foreign policies.” –
Morgenthau
“The standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do
what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they must accept.” – The Melian
Dialogue
“The foreign policy of any country is determined by its geography.” – Napoleon
“Power is the ability to get one's wishes carried out despite opposition” --- H.V. Wiseman
“The question of power cannot be evaded or brushed aside, because it is the key question
determining everything in a revolution’s development, and in its foreign and domestic politics” ---
Lenin
“Power as the capacity to command services or compliance of others.” --- Robert M. MacIver
“There is a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power that is ceased
only in death.” --- Hobbes
"The proper scope of political science is not the study of the state or of any other specific
institutional complex, but the investigation of all associations insofar as they can be shown to
exemplify the problem of power" --- Frederick Watkins
NATIONAL INTEREST
“National interest is static as well as dynamic.” – Morgenthau
“The main aim of national interest is to ensure survival, i.e., protection of physical, economic,
political and cultural identity against encroachments by other nation-states”. – Morgenthau
“National Interest means the fulfillment of a general, long term and continuing purpose which the
state, the nation, and the government all see themselves as serving.” – Charles Lerche
“The main aim of National Interest is that which states seek to protect or achieve in relation to each
other. It means the fulfillment of desires on the part of sovereign states.” – Vernon Von Dyke
COLLECTIVE SECURITY
“Collective security is an arrangement arrived at by some nations to protect their vital interests,
safety or integrity, against a probable threat or menace over a particular period, by means of
combining their powers.” – A. K. Chaturvedi
“In essence, Collective Security is an arrangement among states in which all promise, in the event
any member of the system engages in certain prohibited acts (war and aggression) against another

36
member, to come to the latter's assistance.” – Schleicher
“Collective Security clearly implies collective measures for dealing with threats to peace.” – Palmer
and Perkins
“Collective security is a system in which a number of states are bound to engage in collective efforts
on behalf of each other’s individual security.” – Van Dyke
“Thus far, governments have generally maintained their right to view conflict in terms of their
national interest and to support or oppose UN action based on their nationalistic point of view.
Collective Security therefore exists mostly as a goal, not as a general practice.” – Rourke and Boyer
“All power requires knowledge and all knowledge relies on and reinforces existing power relations”. –
Foucault
TRANSNATIONAL ACTORS AND GLOBALISATION
"If competition in the biological field leads indirectly to the road of progress, competition in the
economic field is the very secret of that progress.” – Seligman
“Globalisation is both an active process of corporate expansion across borders and a structure of
cross border facilities and economic linkages that has been steadily growing and changing.” – Edward
S. Herman
“Globalisation is the process whereby social relations acquire relatively distance-less and borderless
qualities.” – Baylis and Smith
“Globalization is political, technical and cultural, as well as economic.” – Kenichi Ohmae
CHANGING INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ORDER
COLD WAR
“Cold war, as the world experienced, was a war between two ideologies (Capitalism and
Communism), two systems (Bourgeoisie Democracy and Proletarian Dictatorship), two blocs (NATO
and Warsaw Pact), two states (the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R.) and two personalities (John Foster Dulles
and Stalin).” – K.P.S. Menon
“Cold war is a brain war, a nerve war and a propaganda war in operation.” – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
“We are entering an era of negotiation”. – Nixon
“As long as Stalin was running the Soviet Union, a Cold War was unavoidable". – John Lewis Gaddis
“Here's my strategy on the Cold War: we win, they lose". – Harry S. Truman
“They [The Soviet Union] are the focus of evil in the modern world". – Ronald Reagan
"Let us not be deceived: we are today in the midst of a Cold War". – Bernard Baruch

37
"If we let Korea down, the Soviets will keep right on going and swallow up one [place] after another”.
– President Harry Truman
"The Cold War isn't thawing- it is burning with a deadly heat. Communism isn't sleeping; it is, as
always, plotting, scheming, working, and fighting". – Richard M. Nixon
“The Cold War is over. The world has become much more complicated” – Vladimir Putin
“As opposed to the cold war which sought to keep the tension in the central balance at a high pitch,
the détente is a conscious and deliberate attempt to reduce this tension significantly”. – Baral
NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT
“Non-alignment can be best defined as not entering into military alliances with any country and in
particular with any country either of the western or of the communist bloc.” – Appadorai
“Specifically and negatively Non- alignment means the rejection of military or political alliances.
Positively it means taking ad-hoc decisions on international problems, as and when they come up
according to the merits of each case.” – M.S. Rajan
“NAM is the biggest peace movement in the world.” – Indira Gandhi
"The power of nations assembled here is not military power or economic power, nevertheless it is
power. Call it moral force”. – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (First NAM Conference in 1961)
“Non-alignment is a policy that means an attempt by a nation to keep itself off the military blocs. It
means trying to view the things from as far as possible, not just from a military point of view though
that has to come in sometime. Everyone must have an independent viewpoint and must have
friendly relations with every country.” – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
“We shall take full part in international conferences as a free nation with our own policy and not
merely as a satellite of another nation.” – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
“PM Modi has a natural inclination towards pragmatism when it comes to foreign policy.” – Harsha V.
Pant
“India has buried NAM for good”. – Harsha V. Pant
“NAM has often been the world’s moral voice and in order to retain this role, NAM must remain
inclusive.” – Modi
“Multilateralism is undoubtedly under strain today. It is important that our movement that
represents two thirds of the world’s population continues to work together and take the lead in
building multilateral governance structures that are capable of meeting the 21th Century
challenges.” – S. Jaishankar
“There was a time for non-alignment. New Delhi has been there and done that. Today’s India and its
aspirations demand much more from its leadership.” – Harsha V. Pant
"With the end of cold war, there are no longer two rival blocks to be non-aligned between and many
have questioned the relevance of NAM whose very name signifies the negation of choice that is no

38
longer on the world’s geopolitical table." – Shashi Tharoor in his article “Is the Non-Aligned
Movement relevant today?”
“Quintessence of NAM lies in ‘strategic autonomy.” – T.P Sreenivasan
UNIPOLARITY AND AMERICAN HEGEMONY
“Hegemonic structure exists when a single powerful state controls or dominates the lesser states in
the system.” – Gilpin
“Unipolarity is a structure in which one state’s capabilities are too great to be counterbalanced.” –
William Wohlforth
“Hegemony is about structural change, because if one state achieves hegemony, the system ceases
to be anarchic and becomes hierarchic”. – Christopher Layne
NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER
“The market is a good servant but a bad master.”
“Bewilderment and bitterness” resulting from the Depression became “the breeders of fascism, and
finally, of war”. – Hans Morgenthau
UNITED NATIONS
"The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell." – Former
United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld
“UN is the creation of member states and is therefore malleable to their wishes. It will succeed, if
they wish, otherwise it will become the relic of the past” – Harry S Truman
“The UN is the mirror of our society. It cannot be more successful than we want. It is not the UN's
failure. It is our failure.” – Tharoor
“If we don’t change the council, we risk a situation where the primacy of the council may be
challenged by some of the new emerging countries.” – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
“The LoN went into meltdown because it was unwilling to accept the need for reform. We must not
make that mistake.” – Former EAM Shushma Swaraj
“We need only reformed multilateralism with a reformed United Nations at its centre to meet the
aspirations of humanity.” – Modi
“Some UN programs should be merged or closed, while other new SDG related UN programs should
be created.” – Jeffrey D. Sachs
“For New Delhi, sitting in the Security Council pulpit—however briefly—allowed it to demonstrate to
the world that it can deftly navigate the uncertainties of global governance. The presidency gave New
Delhi the opportunity to exhibit clout, creativity, and diplomacy, while targeting its adversary China
without directly naming it in presidential statements”. – Harsh V Pant

39
“Delhi needs to revitalise its engagement with its traditional partners in the “global south” by
articulating their peace and security concerns in the UNSC.” – C Raja Mohan
“It would be an understatement to say that India’s contribution to global peace has been
remarkable.” – Antonio Guterres.
CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL CONCERNS
DEMOCRACY
“A democracy which speaks with one voice, which elevates citizen duties over citizen rights, which
privileges obedience over freedom, which uses fear to instill ideological uniformity, which weakens
checks on executive power, is a contradiction in terms.” – Ashutosh Varshney
Democracy is the most stable way of governance.” – Amartya Sen
“Democracy is a type of government of all the people, by all the people and for all the people.” –
Theodore Parker
“Democracy is the way to give people the greatest illusion of power , while allowing them
the smallest amount in reality” --- Bagehot
"While democracy is not yet universally practised, nor indeed universally accepted, in the general
climate of world opinion democratic governance has achieved the status of being taken to be
generally right." – Amartya Sen
HUMAN RIGHTS
“Human rights are moral claims on … individual and collective agents, and on the design of social
arrangements. Human rights are fulfilled when the persons involved enjoy secure access to the
freedom or resource (adequate health protection, freedom of speech) covered by the right”. –
Amartya Sen
“Culture is not destiny” --- Donnelly
“Rights are those circumstances of human life without which, usually a person cannot do the best
development of his personality.” --- Laski
“Rights are that power of working of a man to achieve his objectives which is defined by the social
community on the condition that he will do the welfare of the community also through these works.”
--- T.H. Green
“Legal right is such a benefit which is recognized and secured by the legal rule and to follow it is a
legal duty.” --- Salmond

40
“An individual is boar with certain rights by birth. This means that these are not dependent on
society or state. These rights are given by God to his children as he gives them eye, nose, ear, hand
etc.” --- John Locke
“Restrained government is the best way to protect rights.” --- John Locke
“People use rights, not only as the members of the state but as members of society also. Thus, to
limit the right to only the state is to destroy the personality of an individual and its protection.” ---
Laski
“Every state is known by the rights it maintains.” --- Herold Laski
ENVIRONMENT
"Polluted skies, dead rivers, disappearing forests, falling water tables, ever increasing hills of
untreated waste, displaced peasants and tribes is what we see after 35 years of Chipko Movement" –
R.C Guha
“Environment is not about saving tigers and planting trees. Environment is about democracy.
Without giving powers to the people, decentralisation planning and Grassroot democracy, we won’t
be able to achieve sustainable development.” – Sunita Narayan.
GENDER JUSTICE
“History owes an apology to these people and their families. Homosexuality is part of human
sexuality.” – Justice Indu Malhotra
“This case involves much more than decriminalising homosexuality. It is about people wanting to
live with dignity.”— Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud (Navtej Singh Jauhar case)
“Criminalising carnal intercourse is irrational, arbitrary and manifestly unconstitutional.”- Chief

Justice Dipak Misra
TERRORISM
“It's like an ancient story - you can't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your
neighbours. Eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard too”. –
US diplomat Hillary Clinton
“The UN is too political, too uncoordinated, too focused on process rather than outcomes and
follow-up, and too far removed from the people who actually deal with the problems of terrorism on
the ground to make much of an impact, or even to appear relevant.” – Richard Barrett
“One could say that we have successfully avoided a third world war, but we cannot deny that there
have been several wars and many civil wars. Several terrorist attacks shook the world and there has
been immense bloodshed. India will not hesitate in raising its voice against the enemies of humanity,
human race and human values (including) terrorism, smuggling of illegal weapons, drugs and
money laundering”. – PM Modi

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NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION
“Safety will be the sturdy child of terror and survival, the twin brother of annihilation.” – Winston
Churchill
“Nuclear weapons have changed every aspect of our lives. However, it has not changed the mode of
our thinking yet. And because we have not changed our mode of thinking, we might continue to drift
towards unparalleled catastrophe.” – Albert Einstein
added)

42
IMPORTANT QUOTES FROM INDIA AND THE WORLD
INDIAN FOREIGN POLICY
“A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor
security” ― Henry Kissinger
“Nations have no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.” – Henry Kissinger
“Foreign policy involves the formulation and implementation of a group of principles which shape
the behaviour pattern of a state while negotiating with (contacting) other states to protect or further
its vital interests.” – C.C Rodee
“Foreign Policy is ‘Minimaxing’ i.e. minimising risks and maximising benefits.” – Former National
Security Adviser & Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon
“In the present dynamic and complex world order, India’s foreign policy has become proactive,
flexible as well as pragmatic so as to make quick adjustments to respond to evolving situations. In the
implementation of its foreign policy India, however, invariably adheres to a set of basic principles on
which no compromise is made.” – Ambassador Achal Malhotra
“Foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy. Foreign policy of any country is aimed at achieving
domestic political, economic and social goals at international level.” – Nehru
“National interest is static as well as dynamic.” – Morgenthau
"India and the US have overcome the hesitations of history.” – PM Modi
“In this changing landscape, a more self-confident and ambitious India is seeking to develop a new
paradigm for India’s foreign policy where India would not be a mere ‘balancer’ or ‘swing state’ but a
‘leading state’ that seeks a place at the global high table.” – Ambassador Rajiv Sikri
“The world is too vast for any state’s limited reach. In this context, Media plays an important role in
conveying objectives of Country’s foreign policy and justifying the means adopted to achieve it.” –
Mearsheimer
“We live in webs of deceit, in an indoctrinated society, where elementary truths can be buried with
ease. Thus, for them, the governmental elites use the media in order to steer public opinion through
controlling access to information and by choosing the levels of salience that certain topics will
receive.” – Professor Noam Chomsky
“Sub-national actors, such as states and provinces that have a formal legal personality, are more
likely to engage in international activities designed to promote and protect local and international
interests and prerogatives.” – Stefan Wolff
“Think tanks are organisations whose main mission is to inform or influence public policies (and in
some cases also corporate affairs) on the basis of research and analysis provided by in-house and
affiliated staff.” – Dr Patrick Köllner

43
“In each major power, one newspaper stands out as an organ of elite opinion” – Bernard Cohen
“The real obstacle to the rise of India is not anymore the barriers of the world, but the dogmas of
Delhi.” – S. Jaishankar
“India is now at the cusp of change and with more confidence, the pursuit of seemingly divergent
goals and the straddling of contradictions are being attempted.” – S. Jaishankar
“For thousands of years, Indians have turned to the East. Not just to see the Sun rise, but also to pray
for its light to spread over the entire world. The human-kind now looks to the Rising East, with the
hope to see the promise that this 21st century beholds for the whole world, because the destiny of
the world will be deeply influenced by the course of developments in the Indo-Pacific region.” – PM
Modi
“Beijing has emerged as the biggest challenge to New Delhi, and the US is increasingly becoming the
part of the answer. India’s membership of the Quad is a response to such geopolitics.” – C. Raja
Mohan
“This isn’t the era of war but it is one of democracy, dialogue and diplomacy” – PM Modi
INDIA’S CONTRIBUTION TO NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT, CURRENT ROLE
“Non-alignment can be best defined as not entering into military alliances with any country and in
particular with any country either of the western or of the communist bloc.” – Appadorai
“NAM is the biggest peace movement in the world.” – Indira Gandhi
“We shall take full part in international conferences as a free nation with our own policy and not
merely as a satellite of another nation.” – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
“Specifically and negatively Non- alignment means the rejection of military or political alliances.
Positively it means taking ad-hoc decisions on international problems, as and when they come up
according to the merits of each case.” – M.S. Rajan
"The power of nations assembled here is not military power or economic power, nevertheless it is
power. Call it moral force”. – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (First NAM Conference in 1961)
“Non-alignment is a policy that means an attempt by a nation to keep itself off the military blocs. It
means trying to view the things from as far as possible, not just from a military point of view though
that has to come in sometime. Everyone must have an independent viewpoint and must have
friendly relations with every country.” – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
“PM Modi has a natural inclination towards pragmatism when it comes to foreign policy.” – Harsha V.
Pant
“India has buried NAM for good”. – Harsha V. Pant
“NAM has often been the world’s moral voice and in order to retain this role, NAM must remain
inclusive.” – Modi

44
“Multilateralism is undoubtedly under strain today. It is important that our movement that
represents two thirds of the world’s population continues to work together and take the lead in
building multilateral governance structures that are capable of meeting the 21th Century
challenges.” – S. Jaishankar
“There was a time for non-alignment. New Delhi has been there and done that. Today’s India and its
aspirations demand much more from its leadership.” – Harsha V. Pant
"With the end of cold war, there are no longer two rival blocks to be non-aligned between and many
have questioned the relevance of NAM whose very name signifies the negation of choice that is no
longer on the world’s geopolitical table." – Shashi Tharoor in his article “Is the Non-Aligned
Movement relevant today?”
“Quintessence of NAM lies in ‘strategic autonomy.” – T.P Sreenivasan
INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA
INDIA-PAKISTAN
“India and Pakistan have been antagonists, sufferers of colonial past and cold war policies, and
casualties of their own assumptions about themselves .” – Stephen P Cohen
“The army is not strategically interested in peace.” – Cyril Almeida
“The long-term goal of India is to restore strategic autonomy of the subcontinent, enlarge its
strategic space and enhance its security options. Whereas Pakistan’s identity is often defined by
opposition and rejection of India. It has short term goals and sees talks and negotiations as mere
stratagems (plan used to outwit the opponent).” – M. K. Narayanan
“Indo-Pak relations are a tale of broken bloodline, factual errors and mutual paranoia that has placed
a bitter parting at the centre of destiny of the subcontinent.” – Dilip Hiro in ‘The Longest August’
“Friends can change but not neighbours who have to live together.” – Atal Bihari Vajpayee
“Pakistan is ‘brother enemy’. We have pursued everything but nothing seems to work.” – Shashi
Tharoor
“Pakistan is the biggest foreign policy challenge to India.” – Shashi Tharoor
“On the face of it, South Asia, largely Indo-Pak, appears to vindicate the Hobbesian image of
international relations.” – Atif Shafique
“India’s Pakistan policy must be based on the recognition that India–Pakistan relations are deeply
adversarial and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.” – Shyam Saran
“The fundamental contradictions are India’s status quoist approach on Kashmir and Pakistan’s
determination to change it.” – Rajesh Basroor
“The Siachen conflict is like 2 bald people fighting over a comb.” – Stephen P. Cohen

45
“India and Pakistan have structured their foreign policy against each other. If Pakistan’s obsession
with India is glaring, New Delhi’s treatment is hardly any different. Their policies are mutually
exclusive everywhere and are seen as a zero-sum game.” – George Tanham
“Even if it fails to achieve these goals, jihadi terrorism remains the perfect instrument for
continuously coercing India.” – Ashley Tellis
“There should be no compromise with Indian sovereignty and New Delhi should continue resistance
against CPEC.” – Hardeep S. Puri
“Pakistan is the ‘patron saint’ of the new regime in Afghanistan.” – M. K. Narayanan
“There’s no silver bullet solution to Pak-sponsored terror and politicisation will further constrict
choices.” – Sharat Sabharwal
“Pakistan’s hand today is much weaker, while India's room for manoeuvre has grown.” – C raja
mohan
“We need not pursue resolving the Pakistan issue, since even a stable Pakistan will be malign to
India. We need to know how to manage Pakistan and have a policy on the same.” – Manoj Joshi
“Improved relations with Pakistan can only be the cumulative outcome of a series of modest and
incremental steps rather than the result of any big-bang affair which disturbs the deep state.” –
Shyam Saran
INDIA-BANGLADESH
India and Bangladesh have the potential to change “the whole geo-economics of the region.” –
Subramanian Jaishankar
“India and Bangladesh relations are like flowing rivers full of generosity.” – Sheikh Hasina
“India-Bangladesh ties have entered an era of consolidation and expansion.” – Amb. Pinak Ranjan
Chakravarty
“This relationship, rooted as it is in history and conditioned by geography, finds its rightful place at
the top of the foreign policy agenda in Bangladesh and a priority one in India.” – S. Jaishankar
“Rivers should nurture the India-Bangladesh relationship and not become a source of discord.” – PM
Modi
INDIA-SRI LANKA
“India encounters a range of reactions in Sri Lanka; appreciation, support, suspicion and opposition.”
– Rajiv Bhatia
“The great game of this century will be played in the waters of the Indian Ocean.” – Harsh V. Pant
“Sri Lanka matters because the Indian Ocean matters.” – Harsh V. Pant

46
“With geography as well as its age-old cultural and ethnic ties to Sri Lanka, India wants to be “first
amongst equals” in terms of influence over its island neighbour. And that remains a work in progress
for Indian foreign policy.” – Harsh V. Pant
“India’s policy should be guided by enlightened national interest which will require careful navigation
between the principles of non-interventions and security of the region.” – C. Raja Mohan
INDIA-NEPAL
“For India, Nepal is the “Punya Bhoomi”, Nepal’s sacred geography is a living repository of the
Subcontinent’s spiritual heritage. For Nepal, India is the vast economic hinterland and may well be
called its “Karma Bhoomi.” – C. Raja Mohan
“Beijing is trying to overcome its geographic disadvantage through mega projects like the Tibet
Railway. But Nepal’s nearest ports will always be in India and the Gangetic plain will remain its largest
market.” – C. Raja Mohan
“In relation to China, if Nepal ignores India’s concerns, there are options open to New Delhi, like not
purchasing power from the Chinese-added hydro-projects. The Madhesi issue, though put on the
back- burner, has not been abandoned.” – Prof. S D Muni
“India should seek to become the transit country of choice for Nepal by offering it open access to its
transportation network and ports, extending that country’s efficient and economical services. This
will create positive interdependence rather than negative leverage.” – Shyam Saran
INDIA-MYANMAR
“India Myanmar relationship is described as Brother countries; Once part of the same territory,
Myanmar is the land bridge that connects India and South East Asia.” – C. Raja Mohan
“A failed Myanmar state at India’s doorstep and a weakened Myanmar falling into the clutches of
China as a satellite state will pressurise India to do Beijing’s bidding in regional affairs.” – C. Raja
Mohan
“Myanmar has turned towards China mostly because in earlier coups India siding with
pro-democracy groups. Thus, increasing Chinese influence is a consequence of India’s obsession with
democracy.” – Harsh V. Pant
“Considering its strategic position, the entire world is now trying to woo Myanmar; India will have to
face competition.” – Harsh V. Pant
“New Delhi should utilise platforms like BIMSTEC to step up cooperation thus creating a security
community.” – Harsh V. Pant
“India must leverage cultural and civilizational linkages and establish firm people to people contact.”
– Amb. Ashok Sajjanhar
“India and Myanmar need to diversify our trade from agricultural products and need to achieve the
target of $3 billion (interdependence), moreover both countries must expand energy trade with the
India-Myanmar pipeline.” – Amb. Gautam Mukhopadhyay

47
“Our capacity and institutions lag behind our ambitions. Thus, India needs to speed up connectivity
projects like air connectivity, IMT, Kaladan etc. Myanmar has a lower focus on development of the
region west of Irrawaddy neighbouring India. This is where India can fill the gap.” – Shyam Saran
“India is adopting a “twin-track” approach, “walking a fine balance between engaging the immediate
eastern neighbour while pushing it towards restoration of democracy.” – Indrani Bagchi
INDIA-BHUTAN
“Who would not want a friend and a neighbour like Bhutan?” – Narendra Modi
"With one of the highest trade-to-GDP ratios in the region (82 percent,) Bhutan’s developmental
goals will hinge on its ability to moderate its landlocked position by developing connectivity with
the Bay of Bengal region.” – Constantino Xavier
“The position of Bhutan is like ‘egg between two rocks.” – Suhasini Haider
“The Sino-Indian violent face-off at the disputed border in Ladakh has changed the strategic calculus
in South Asia.” – Mihir Bhosale
“Bhutan's goal was to steer its external relations with China by giving neither provocation nor the
impression of getting into a bear hug of dependence with India. Both could jeopardise Bhutan’s
autonomy.” – Jagat S. Mehta in his book, “Negotiating for India: Resolving Problems through
Diplomacy
“South Asia is an exception to democratic peace theory.” – Zorawar Daulat Singh
“China’s new claim in eastern Bhutan is an assertion of China making the erstwhile Tibetan
Kingdom’s claims its own. The claim on the Sakteng sanctuary in the Trashigang district of Bhutan
must be seen in this light.” – Mihir Bhosale
“India must respect the sovereignty of Bhutan at all costs. India needs to develop a stand-alone
Bhutan policy which is independent of China.” – Suhasini Haider
“India’s traditional ‘sacred bond’ with Bhutan has been disastrously eroded and the Himalayan state
merely remained an object of strategic play against China.” – P. Stobdan
“Despite diversifying international bilateral ties, Bhutan will politically continue to consider India as
its only major strategic ally but New Delhi should also recognise Thimphu’s concerns by not taking it
for granted.” – C. Raja Mohan
INDIA AND THE GLOBAL SOUTH
INDIA-AFRICA
“Africa is considered a foreign policy priority by India.” – S. Jaishankar
“As India is neither a rich country nor has its hands been tainted by a history of slavery, colonisation
and the exploitation of Africa, India’s aid to Africa should be reciprocated by acknowledgement and
quid pro quo in terms of goodwill, and institutional preference. India cannot simply be a cash cow for
Africa, particularly when its own economy is slowing down.” – Mahesh Sachdev

48
“For many African countries, India doesn’t represent just a ‘white knight’ or trading partner; it
represents a country with similar problems, tropical climate, and challenges of poverty and disease,
but has overcome many of these challenges through low-cost innovations.” – Suhasini Haider
“India and Japan do not have the luxury of time in view of China’s rapidly expanding footprint in
Africa.” – Rajiv Bhatia
“It envisages co-capabilities and co-benefits, while promoting local ownership. As a result, we see a
unique level of trust that is even more valuable as we contemplate the challenges ahead.” – S.
Jaishankar
“India-Africa partnership is yet to achieve its full [development cooperation] potential. What is
needed is an infusion of energy, of something new and concrete, and with a specific focus and
direction” – S. Jaishankar
“Africa-China relations are becoming complex with a growing, insular diaspora, lopsided trade,
looming debt, competition with local businesses and a negative perception accompanied by greater
political and socioeconomic interlinkages.” – Veda Vaidyanathan
“The Chinese Communist Party’s long-term strategic objective is to displace the United States as the
world’s most powerful country and create a new world order favourable to China’s authoritarian
brand of politics, or its “socialist market economy.” – Dan Blumenthal
“For mutual benefit, Africa and India should remain optimally engaged.” – Rajiv Bhatia
“The golden thread woven in the common struggles against injustice and oppression.” – Nelson
Mandela
INDIA-LATIN AMERICA
“Latin America is the last frontier of Indian foreign policy.” – AN Ray
“Latin America is closer to India than you think.” – Amb R. Viswanathan
“Latin America remains distant geographically and conceptually. Political relations are cordial but
seldom ascend levels of strategic empathy. Physical connectivity is one of the main obstacles
identified, specifically the high cost of transport.” – Amb. Deepak Bhojwani
“If there is one region of the world where the previous government was perceived to be more
engaged it is Latin America.” – Shyam Saran
INDIA AND THE GLOBAL CENTRES OF POWER
USA
“Our nations have overcome ‘Hesitations of history’.” – PM Modi
“India and the USA have come a long way from being estranged democracies to engaged
democracies.” – Dennis Kux

49
“Despite their shared affinities of constitutional democracy, liberal politics, and civic nationalism, the
United States and India have not enjoyed consistently warm relations because of contrasts in
worldview, differences in national priorities, and asymmetries in power capability, which lasted in
their strongest form until the end of the Cold War.” – Ashley J. Tellis
“India America ties have reached to the level where the only direction to go was “up”. – S. Jaishankar
“The USA economy is largely complementary and there is no fundamental clash of interest between
the two sides.” – S. Jaishankar
“President George W. Bush, reversed course and over his two terms in office forged a unique nuclear
cooperation agreement with India.” – Ashley J. Tellis
“Unique constellations of factors like systemic, domestic, political and individual together played the
role in changing India US relationship.” – Harsh Pant
“Indo US defence partnership was built on two important handshakes. One is “Technological
handshake” and the other is “strategic handshake” – Ashton Carter
“The secret to successful engagement with the US involves two simple propositions — never stop
negotiating and keep making deals small or big.” – C. Raja Mohan
“Keeping a distance from another country cannot be a primary yardstick of policy independence of a
confident power.”-- S. Jaishankar
“India will work with the US when required and differ with it when necessary.” – S. Jaishankar
“It is hardly the time to be seen to be the ally of One Power, that too one whose power seems to be
waning.” – M. K. Narayanan
QUAD
“Indian Ocean will take the centre stage in the 20th century strategy games of great Power.” – Robert
D Kaplan
“Development, deterrence and diplomacy” should be the way forward for Quad.” – Rory Medcalf
“Quad has a broad, substantive agenda; seeing it with limited agenda is partly gamesmanship of
critics.” – S. Jaishankar
“After years of being in denial of a changing reality, India had to come to terms with the fact that
there were now more forces at work in the oceans below.” – S. Jaishankar
“While the BRICS was part of India’s strategy in the unipolar moment that dawned at the end of the
Cold War, Delhi’s current enthusiasm for the Quad is about limiting the dangers of a Unipolar Asia
dominated by China.” – C. Raja Mohan
“Success of Quad depends on India as Australia and Japan are already in a security alliance with the
USA and are under the military and nuclear umbrella of the USA.” – Brahma Chellaney

50
“India needs to let go of the dogmatic non alignment paradigm and go for issue-based partnership.”
– S. Jaishankar
“Raise the Quad dialogue to political level, intensify naval exercise with Australia bilaterally and make
the Quad Malabar a reality” – Amb. Kanwal Sibal
“If India discards its military isolationism, develops productive defence diplomacy, and embarks upon
deeper security cooperation with its partners through bilateral, minilateral and multilateral
mechanisms, the “quad talk” might generate a lot less heat than it does today.” – C. Raja Mohan
“There is a conviction in Indian foreign policy makers that India US strategic partnership, serves
India’s interest better. However there is a consciousness that there is a creative tension in the
relations. There is a perfect congruence in the east, however the relationship is awkward in the
west.” – Shivshankar Menon (Ex Diplomat, NSA to Manmohan Singh)
“India is charting its course to power. India is a rising power of Asia. It is better if the USA appreciates
India’s approach. The USA should make efforts to strengthen the partnership.” –Alyssa Airess
India US relations are complicated. The US never had to deal with any country like India before. India
is neither an ally nor an adversary and the USA has been used to looking countries from these two
frameworks.” – Rakesh Sood
“India should not get overjoyed with USA’s heart warming phrases like ‘India is a consequential
partner for USA’. As the world is chaotic, leave options open. The USA should not shape India’s
options.” – Happymon Jacob
“In comparison to China, India fails to effectively combine power, principle and pragmatism. India
should resist temptations to look at geopolitics in ideological terms. For a long time India wanted a
multipolar world, now India should learn the art of living in the multipolar world.” – C. Raja Mohan
“For the foreseeable future, the evolving challenges in the international system imply that both
Washington and New Delhi will be bound by common concerns that include containing China,
defeating jihadi terrorism, arresting the further spread of weapons of mass destruction, protecting
the global commons, preserving the multilateral trading order, ensuring food and energy security,
and managing climate change.” – Ashley Tellis
“Genuine strategic partnership is possible—if both sides can agree on some minimally acceptable
notion of reciprocity.” – Ashley Tellis
“We are living neither in the Age of Hegemony nor in Multipolarity but in the age of uncertainty. In
this context, Indian policy needs fewer red lines and Greater agility & pragmatism to navigate the
geopolitical flux.” – Rakesh Sood
RUSSIA
“Every child in India knows who India's best friend is.” – PM Modi
“Russia and India’s divergence toward the two global centres of power—China and the United States
is gradually burning the bridges of Russian Indian friendship.” – Alexei Zakharovhas

51
“An old friend is better than two new friends.” – PM Modi
“No geopolitical discussion can be complete without a mention of the Indo-Pacific'' – PM Modi
“India and Russia will agree much more than they will disagree on the strategic direction, the
inherent and necessary multi-polarity, and the security and prosperity.” – Harsh Shringla
“The Far East will become a confluence of the Eurasian Union on one side and the open, free, and
inclusive Indo-Pacific on the other.” – PM Modi
“Russia’s embrace of China, its flirtations with Pakistan are creating unease for India. India should
look at Russia with ‘clear eyed realism’. – C. Raja Mohan
“Nostalgia of the Soviet era may be useful but it cannot drive the relations at present.” – Shyam
Sharan
“India should draw red lines: Russia can develop relations with China and Pak-but not at the cost of
India’s security.” – P.S. Raghvan
“Nostalgia may be useful, but it can't make up for lack of substantive drivers in India-Russia ties.” –
Shyam Sharan
“Current period of geopolitical flux is exactly the time for the two sides to bank on their ‘special and
privileged strategic partnership’ to pursue a multi-vector foreign policy. The most important, critical
take away from the relationship for both countries is the strategic space they provide each other to
deal with the US, China and other great powers.” – Nivedita Menon
“Russia retains its position as one of the great powers of the world. It has rich natural resources, a
long history of mastery over science and technology and a sense of its own civilization uniqueness.” –
Shyam Sharan
CHINA
“Asia will be an unbalanced multipolar system, because China will be much more powerful than all
other Asian great powers, and thus qualify as a potential hegemon.” – John J. Mearsheimer
“The fundamental problem is that both India and China are negotiating with the assumption that
both will have a better negotiating position in the future. And it’s true: both are rising and therefore
neither side is really seeing the negotiations through. We have a successful mechanism for managing
differences.” – Shiv Shankar Menon
“Boundary is not the real issue; it is just a lever to regulate temperature in relations.” – Shiv Shankar
Menon
“The economic corridor passes through an illegal territory, an area that we call Pak-occupied Kashmir.
You can imagine India’s reaction at the fact that such a project has been initiated without consulting
us.” – S. Jaishankar
“Connectivity in itself cannot override or undermine the sovereignty of other nations” – Prime
Minister Narendra Modi

52
“After more than a half century of false starts and unrealized potential, India is now emerging as the
swing state in the global balance of power.” – C. Raja Mohan
“If not, a new phase of antagonistic rivalry may be starting, with the countries sliding into possible
confrontation as the strategic periphery of China collides with the strategic backyard of India in the
Indian Ocean region.” – Vijay Gokhale
“From India's point of view, it is China's silence or ambivalence about the rise of India that poses a
puzzle and a challenge.” – Shivshankar Menon
“China wants to utilize its political and economic clout to emerge as sole continental power. For
China, multipolarity is for the world, not for Asia.” – Samir Saran
“One mountain cannot contain two tigers” – Samir Saran
“Power is not everything in IP but ignoring the massive power differential is Strategic Blindness.” –
Kanti Bajpai
“The age of alliances is over.” – S. Jaishankar
“India will go for issue based partnerships.” – S. Jaishankar
“The longer India takes to act vigorously on its frontier region development (eg. A&N), military
modernization and regional economic integration, the greater will be its difficulty in coping with
China’s rise.” – C. Raja Mohan
JAPAN
“The people of India and Japan are guided by common cultural traditions including the heritage of
Buddhism, and share commitment to the ideals of democracy, tolerance, pluralism and open
society.” – S. Jaishankar
“India is Japan’s natural ally.” – Shinzo Abe
“It would not be a surprise if in another 10 years; Japan-India relations overtake Japan-U.S. and
Japan-China relations” – Shinzo Abe
“A strong India is in the best interest of Japan, and a strong Japan is in the best interest of India.” –
Shinzo Abe
“Though neither India nor Japan had historically focused on each other when it came to addressing
their respective security situations.” – S. Jaishankar
“Mutual trust and faith, understanding of each other’s interest and concerns, sharing the core values
of democracy, peace and rule of law, regular high level interactions is the uniqueness of India Japan
relations’.” – Prime Minister Modi
“There is a strong case for an India-Japan alliance. India as well as Japan needs to ensure against
wide oscillations in USA’s policy. As China’s neighbour, they have stakes in cooperative relations with
China as well as to temper China’s unilateralism.” – C. Raja Mohan

53
“Alliance is a characteristic of the cold war era. In the present age of interdependence, it does not fit.
Strategic partnership allows flexibility; countries can go for engagements with common adversaries
and can avoid being dragged into a partner's dispute.” – Rajesh Basrur
“Traditionally India has resisted taking sides in great power competition. But in the era of
uncertainty, driven by shifting Asian balance of power, strategic partnerships improve the room for
manoeuvrability” – Rajeshwari Rajagopalan
INDIA AND THE UN SYSTEM
"The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell." – Former
United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld
“UN is the creation of member states and is therefore malleable to their wishes. It will succeed, if
they wish, otherwise it will become the relic of the past” – Harry S Truman
“The UN is the mirror of our society. It cannot be more successful than we want. It is not the UN's
failure. It is our failure.” – Tharoor
“If we don’t change the council, we risk a situation where the primacy of the council may be
challenged by some of the new emerging countries.” – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
“The LoN went into meltdown because it was unwilling to accept the need for reform. We must not
make that mistake.” – Former EAM Shushma Swaraj
“We need only reformed multilateralism with a reformed United Nations at its centre to meet the
aspirations of humanity.” – Modi
“Some UN programs should be merged or closed, while other new SDG related UN programs should
be created.” – Jeffrey D. Sachs
“For New Delhi, sitting in the Security Council pulpit—however briefly—allowed it to demonstrate to
the world that it can deftly navigate the uncertainties of global governance. The presidency gave New
Delhi the opportunity to exhibit clout, creativity, and diplomacy, while targeting its adversary China
without directly naming it in presidential statements”. – Harsh V Pant
“Delhi needs to revitalise its engagement with its traditional partners in the “global south” by
articulating their peace and security concerns in the UNSC.” – C Raja Mohan
“It would be an understatement to say that India’s contribution to global peace has been
remarkable.” – Antonio Guterres.
INDIA AND THE NUCLEAR QUESTION
“The logic of NFU is counter-intuitive: a country that faces no existential threats (in addition to being
the strongest and most powerful state in its neighbourhood) has little need to use nuclear weapons
first.” – Rajesh Rajagopalan
“The country has good reasons to want first-strike capabilities. But the actual state of its arsenal
suggests that it will not get it.” – Harsh V. Pant

54
“India will not be the first to use nuclear weapons, but if it is attacked with such weapons, it would
engage in nuclear retaliation which will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage on
its adversaries. The label on a nuclear weapon used for attacking India, strategic or tactical, is
irrelevant from the Indian perspective.” – Shyam Saran
“Why should I bind myself? I should just say I am a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it
irresponsibly” – Manohar Parrikar
“While India is firmly committed to its NFU doctrine, the future of the policy depends on the
circumstances.” – Rajnath Singh
“The no-first-use doctrine may simply be a public lie to hide private intentions.” – C. Raja Mohan
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIAN FOREIGN POLICY
WEST ASIA
“West Asia is a bridge of three continents (Africa, Asia, Europe).” – Alfred T Mahan
“West Asia is the Land of Great power politics.” – Alfred T Mahan
“Strategic importance of West Asia flows through its geography as a land bridge of three continents
& natural resources. However, it suffers from the 'curse of centrality'.” – Ansari
“Policy should be based on mature recognition of own Iimitations of capability & influence. India's
policy of passivity is prudent' in volatile & unpredictable West Asia. If speech is silver then in some
cases silence is gold.” – Former Amb. Ranjit Gupta
“West Asia is not a place for display of India's power. It is a place for augmentation of India's power.”
– Prof. Girijesh Pant
“India's policy was based on secular considerations of geopolitical & geo economic interests & not on
ideology & religion.” – Ishrat Aziz
“India's footprint in west Asia has been autonomous of strategic calculus. It was mainly driven by
markets & focus was on the oil diaspora, however, the strategic aspect was missing.” – S. Jaishankar
“India's mental map of the Middle East was too simplistic. It was based on two axes, Arab- Israeli
conflict & Anti imperialist solidarity. It was driven by domestic political expediency rather than
geostrategic vision.” – C. Raja Mohan
"If the eastern front is building upon a long standing policy, the western one is relatively more recent
conceptually. He further went on to say, "I can confidently predict that ‘Act East’ would be matched
with ‘Think West’.” – S. Jaishankar
“India's Foreign Policy has to be understood in accordance with India's changed status. India aspires
to be a leading power & is willing to share greater global responsibilities.” – S. Jaishankar
“Due to the economic rise and image of India as a neutral, there is growing expectation in West Asia
from India.” – Talmiz Ahmed

55
“Shift in policy post 2014 is a two way street. There is a change in perception of countries of the
Middle East because of the rise of India's economic strength, recognition of Pakistan's role in
preventing terrorism, decline of the USA, shift of global energy market from Trans-Atlantic to
Indo-Pacific.” – Ranjit Gupta
“Indian diplomacy still lacks the nimbleness required to deal with fast-changing situations. Despite its
long presence in the region, a 9-million strong diaspora, and the region being its principal source of
oil, India is not a major player today and both Russia and China have overtaken India in the affairs of
the region. Even in strategically important Iran, the Russia-ChinaIran relationship has greatly
blossomed, almost marginalizing India’s influence.” – M.K. Narayan
”Though India’s Look West policy of balancing seems to be working but its sustainability is not
certain.” – Gary Burton
“The germ of a new regional security order, without the US, in West Asia is already sown in fertile
ground.” – Talmiz Ahmed
“Beijing wants to do more but is not keen on replicating Washington’s political and military
engagement in the region.” – Manoj Kewalramani
AFGHANISTAN
“Due to its geographical positioning and influence on regional stability, the political future of
Afghanistan will be of considerable significance to several nations with competing sets of interests as
well as to pan-Asian relations as a whole.” – M.K. Narayanan
“India does not have a contingency plan and soft power alone cannot secure Indian interests in the
region.” – Happymon Jacob
“A clear effect of India’s stand of Afghan led and Afghan owned process” has been to isolate India in
the multiple negotiations with Taliban for ending the war.” – Rajeshwari Pillai Rajagopalan
“Integrate reconstruction with reconciliation, otherwise all efforts are futile.” – Happymon Jacob
“Strategic patience cannot be an alibi for inaction; India must rethink ‘wait and watch’ Afghan policy.”
– Vivek Katju
“India should take on a mediating role among the different nations anxious to involve themselves in
Afghanistan, and produce a formula that would help maintain Afghanistan’s neutrality and ensure
that it becomes a buffer zone to prevent further Chinese expansionism towards South Asia.” – M.K.
Narayanan
Without interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, India can still build partnerships between various
stakeholders and raise the capacity and capability of Afghan people.” – Sushant Sareen
“No boots on ground policy to stay out of the Afghan quagmire.” – Rakesh Sood and Shiv Shankar
Menon
“Strategic rewards in Afghanistan are as large as risks. India is realistic enough to know that it doesn't
have power to unilaterally define Afghanistan’s future. But India needs to develop some leverage and
influence outcomes in Afghanistan through proactive diplomacy and some purposeful action on the

56
ground.” – Rakesh Sood and Shiv Shankar Menon
“India is a small fish in the water, but its clout is growing. It now needs to move beyond the binary of
economic cooperation and military engagement and evolve a comprehensive policy which involves
all dimensions of power.” – Shashank Joshi
Afghanistan is a tough country. Only those who are willing to fight on multiple fronts will be able to
preserve their leverage.” – C. Raja Mohan
CENTRAL ASIA
“One who rules Eurasia commands the Heartland; while one who rules the Heartland commands the
World Island.” – Heartland Theory
“The creation of a free trade zone between India and EAEU would boost trade turnover to US$15
billion, about a 25 percent immediate increase. India and Russia have previously discussed ways of
doubling trade to US$30 billion by 2025.” – Bala Venkatesh Varma
“Geography has placed Central Asia at the nexus of crucial political and economic transformations for
centuries.” – Rhea Menon and Sharanya Rajiv
ISRAEL
“India and Israel relation is a marriage made in heaven and implemented here on earth.” – Benjamin
Netanyahu
“India wants an affair when it comes to Israel, not a serious relationship.” – Israeli newspaper
Haaretz
“India’s voting record at the UN “shows an embrace of the Palestinian narrative.” – Israeli newspaper
Haaretz
“strategic imperatives in West Asia are such that India will have to go for middle ground rather than
alliances.” – Rajendra Abhyankar
VISION OF A NEW WORLD ORDER
“When the dying King Arthur is set on the royal barge to take him to the nether world:
The old order changeth yielding place to new
And God fulfils himself in many ways
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.”
– Alfred Tennyson
“Now that India is, on the strength of its economic successes, taken quite seriously by other major
global players, it will need to grapple with whether, when, how and in what proportions it can and
wants to share global burdens.” – David Malone
“In the current shifting kaleidoscope, India is seeking to develop a new paradigm for India’s foreign
policy where India would not be a mere ‘balancer’ or ‘swing state’ but a ‘leading state’ that seeks a
place at the global high table.” – David Malone

57
“I have no doubt that China wishes to be number one in the world. As patriotic Chinese, convinced
that China was number one in the world order until the aberration of the last two centuries, it is
natural that Chinese leaders will try to take the place of the United States as world superpower.” –
Amb Rajiv SikriShivshankar Menon
added)

58

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Political Science & International

PSIR QUOTE KIT

IMPORTANT QUOTES FROM POLITICAL THEORY

“Politics is more difficult than Physics.” --- Einstein

“Every thinker is the child of his times” --- Laski

For More Study Material, Visit: studyiq.com Page no.

“Will not force is the basis of the state” --- T. H. Green

For More Study Material, Visit: studyiq.com Page no.

For More Study Material, Visit: studyiq.com Page no.

“Liberty is a capacity to do something that is worth doing.” --- T. H. Green

“Will not force is the basis of the state” --- T. H. Green

"Real rights are a result of performance of duty." --- Mahatma Gandhi

“Culture is not destiny” --- Donnelly

For More Study Material, Visit: studyiq.com Page no.

For More Study Material, Visit: studyiq.com Page no.

“Every state is known by the rights it maintains.” --- Herold Laski

“Democratic society is a prerequisite of a democratic government.” --- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

POWER, IDEOLOGY, LEGITIMACY

For More Study Material, Visit: studyiq.com Page no.

“Where there is power there is resistance”. --- Foucault

“Ideology is a false consciousness” --- Karl Marx

“Positive freedom consists of acting according to reason, achieving self-realisation or self-perfection.”

For More Study Material, Visit: studyiq.com Page no.

“Personal is Political” --- Carol Hanisch

“Existence is prior to essence” --- Jean Paul Sartre

“Femininity is a construction of civilization, a reflection not of “essential” differences in men and

“Patriarchy is so normal, so universal that it appears natural” --- J.S. Mill

For More Study Material, Visit: studyiq.com Page no.

“War is to men what maternity is to women.” --- Mussolini

INDIAN POLITICAL THINKERS

“The ways of embezzlement are forty.” --- Kautilya

"Truth is God and God is Truth." --- Gandhi

For More Study Material, Visit: studyiq.com Page no.

“Democratic society is a prerequisite of a democratic government.” --- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

WESTERN POLITICAL THINKERS

“Unexamined life is not worth living.” --- Socrates

“Virtue is knowledge” --- Socrates

“Reality is the shadow of Ideas.” --- Plato.

“State is individual writ large.” --- Plato

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“For no law or ordinance is mightier than knowledge.” --- Plato

“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime” --- Aristotle

“Law is a reason without passion.” --- Aristotle

“State is the highest of all associations.” --- Aristotle

“Man is by nature a political animal.” --- Aristotle

“Slavery is natural as well as desirable.” --- Aristotle

“Polity is the best practicable form of government.” --- Aristotle

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“Plato was a friend; Truth was a greater friend’.” --- Aristotle

“Law is a reason without passion.” --- Aristotle

“The end of the state is material prosperity.” --- Machiavelli

“It is better for a prince to be feared than to be loved.” --- Machiavelli

“In politics, ends justify the means.” --- Machiavelli

“Machiavelli is narrowly dated and narrowly located.” --- Sabine.

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“Covenants without swords are but mere words.” --- Hobbes

“I and fear were born together.” --- Hobbes

“Liberty is where law is silent.” --- Hobbes

“No law, no liberty” --- John Locke

Man is born free, but everywhere in chains.” --- Rousseau

“Man was Noble Savage.” --- Rousseau

“Thinking man is a depraved animal.” --- Rousseau