Preparing for IAS is not everything about reading books and magazines. At times, candidates need to make the right decision to increase the chance of achieving success. In most cases, they feel confused while choosing the optional UPSC subject. UPSC has presented you with a list of more than 40 optional subjects. Which one should you prefer? It is found that several IAS candidates like to select Sociology and Public Administration. Now, you have to choose the better one of these two subjects. A brief analysis of these two subjects will enable to pick the right one for your optional paper.
Public Administration- What is in the syllabus?
Public Administration is a highly popular option subject for UPSC candidates. The subject includes something relevant to the civil services. Moreover, candidates have found it easy to score high in this subject. The major topics included in the Public Administration syllabus are-
- New Public Administration
- Good governance
- Administrative thoughts- Scientific management, Post-Weberian developments, Simon’s decision-making theory.
- Theories of leadership, motivation theories, and decision-making process
- Public-private partnerships
- Ministries and departments, Boards and Commissions
- Delegated legislation
- Administrative law
- Civil Society and Right to Information
- Comparative public administration
- Monetary and fiscal policies
- Budgetary process and financial accountability
Candidates do not need to have Public Administration as one of the subjects in their bachelor’s degree courses. Without any prior knowledge, they can easily understand the subject learn the strategies. IAS aspirants from any academic background can choose this optional subject. However, the most important thing is that you need study materials from different sources. Some candidates feel confused while preparing for the subject, Public Administration. They do not know how to study it from the UPSC perspectives. That is why they need guidance from professional instructors.
Should you choose Public Administration as an UPSC optional subject?
You can find high success rate in this subject. Moreover, as you like to become an IAS officer, knowledge about Public Administration will be highly useful in the future. But, some UPSC aspirants have felt that the syllabus is vast. Furthermore, questions in Public Administration Paper II are unpredictable. That is why you can prefer some other alternatives.
Sociology- What is in the syllabus?
Sociology is one of the widely accepted optional subjects for UPSC candidates. You will learn how society functions. The subject also gives you a detailed view of human relations and the available institutions. You need to know the topics included in the subject for the UPSC exam. From your online sociology classes, you will learn more about them.
- Social changes and modernity- Emergence of sociology
- Positivism, objectivity, and non-positivist methodology
- Qualitative and quantitative methods- Data collection techniques
- Sociological thinkers and their theories
- Concepts, including hierarchy, inequality, and poverty
- Social mobility- Types of mobility
- Sociological theories, bureaucracies, and political parties
- Informal and formal organizations
- Protest, social movements, agitation, and revolution
- System of kinship- Lineage, kinship, and several other concepts.
Should you choose Sociology as an UPSC optional subject?
One of the advantages things is that Sociology has a comparatively short syllabus. Moreover, the topics and issues, including in the subject, are interesting. Some parts of General Studies are overlapped with Sociology. Candidates have found that Sociology is one of the scoring subjects. However, one problem is that the political theories of different thinkers are complicated. Still, you can manage this subject with a Sociology course from an IAS training institute. Sociology video lectures for UPSC will help you to get clear concepts of these theories.
From the brief discussion, you can easily decide on the better subject for your UPSC optional paper.