The UPSC Mains GS 2 syllabus covers the Constitution and polity, governance, social justice, and international relations, set out in twenty clauses. The paper asks twenty compulsory questions for 250 marks in three hours. This guide sets the official syllabus against what the paper has actually asked across 245 questions between 2013 and 2024, block by block.
What General Studies Paper II Is, and How It Is Marked
Paper III in the Commission's Numbering
General Studies Paper II, searched for as GS Paper 2 or GS 2, is Paper III in the Commission's numbering, after the Essay and General Studies Paper I. It is the third of the seven papers whose marks count towards the rank.
The Commission's title for it is General Studies-II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations. That title is the syllabus in one line, and the order in which it names those five things turns out to matter.
Where it sits among the nine papers, and what the other 1,750 marks are made of, is set out in the exam pattern guide.
Ten Questions at Ten Marks, Ten at Fifteen
The paper asks twenty questions and every one is compulsory. Ten carry 10 marks with a 150-word limit, ten carry 15 marks with a 250-word limit, and the total is 250 marks in three hours.
That works out at about nine minutes an answer. The marking is identical to General Studies Paper I, so a candidate who has practised the timing for one paper has practised it for this one.
Why Papers Before 2017 Are Not a Like-for-Like Guide
This shape settled in 2017. The three papers before it, 2014 to 2016, ran twenty questions at 12 marks in 200 words, and 2013 differed again with a longer paper.
The questions from those years remain useful for content. The timing practice does not transfer, because a candidate writing to 200 words is rehearsing a limit the paper no longer uses.
The Official GS-II Syllabus
The Twenty Clauses, as the Commission Prints Them
The notice sets this paper out in twenty clauses. They follow in the notice's own words, before any counting is laid over them, because the grouping and the order are themselves informative.
- Indian Constitution: Historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
- Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
- Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
- Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.
- Parliament and State legislatures: Structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
- Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary: Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
- Salient features of the Representation of People's Act.
- Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
- Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
- Development processes and the development industry: the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
- Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
- Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
- Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
- Role of civil services in a democracy.
- India and its neighborhood- relations.
- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests.
- Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, Indian diaspora.
- Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
Four Blocks Inside One Paper
Those twenty clauses group into four blocks. Polity and the Constitution takes the first nine, governance four, social justice three, and international relations the last four. Every question in twelve years falls into one of them.
This page takes each block against 245 real questions from 2013 to 2024. The method is the one used for the Prelims paper, with the same limit as every Mains analysis: a question carries a subject but no finer tag, so the block is as deep as counting goes.
What the Paper Has Actually Asked
Polity Is Forty Per Cent and Nothing Else Is Thin
Polity and the Constitution has carried 99 of the 245 questions, 8.25 a year. International relations follows at 4.42, governance at 4.00 and social justice at 3.75. All four have appeared in all twelve years.
| Block | Clauses | Questions | A year | 2013 to 2016 | 2021 to 2024 | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polity and the Constitution | 9 | 99 | 8.25 | 6.75 | 9.00 | +2.25 |
| International relations | 4 | 53 | 4.42 | 5.25 | 4.00 | -1.25 |
| Governance | 4 | 48 | 4.00 | 5.75 | 3.25 | -2.50 |
| Social justice | 3 | 45 | 3.75 | 3.50 | 3.75 | +0.25 |
That last column is the whole difference between this paper and its neighbour. Here there is no thin block to set aside: the smallest still asks close to four questions a year, which is nearly a fifth of the paper.
Syllabus Clause Count Against Actual Question Share
Set the number of clauses each block gets against the number of questions it has produced. No block sits more than five points from its clause share, and nothing the syllabus weights heavily is asked lightly.
The match is close rather than exact. Polity leads on both measures and social justice trails on both. Governance and international relations hold four clauses each, a tie the syllabus cannot break, and the paper separates them by only five questions in twelve years.
| Block | Clauses | Clause share | Questions | Question share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polity and the Constitution | 9 of 20 | 45 per cent | 99 of 245 | 40.4 per cent |
| International relations | 4 of 20 | 20 per cent | 53 of 245 | 21.6 per cent |
| Governance | 4 of 20 | 20 per cent | 48 of 245 | 19.6 per cent |
| Social justice | 3 of 20 | 15 per cent | 45 of 245 | 18.4 per cent |
Why This Paper Is Easier to Plan Than GS Paper I
General Studies Paper I contains a rank inversion: Indian culture is named first in that syllabus and is the smallest of its four large blocks, so reading in the printed order misweights the paper.
Paper II has no such trap. A candidate who gives each block roughly the attention its clause count suggests will land close to the paper's actual weights, which is the simplest planning rule in the whole examination.
How This Was Counted, and Where the Boundary Is Soft
Every question in every General Studies Paper II from 2013 to 2024, 245 in all, assigned to one block. 2013 asked 25 questions and every year since has asked twenty.
Polity and the Constitution: Nine Clauses, Forty Per Cent
Ninety-Nine Questions, and Still Climbing
Polity is the largest block at 99 questions, and it is the one growing fastest. It has moved from 27 questions across 2013 to 2016 to 36 across 2021 to 2024, which is close to nine questions in a twenty-question paper.
In 2023 it reached 10, the highest of the twelve years. A candidate who prepares this block well is preparing for something near half the paper.
The Nine Clauses the Syllabus Draws
The nine clauses run from the document to the institutions that work it. They are worth reading as a sequence rather than a list, because each one assumes the one before it.
- The Constitution itself: Historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
- Federalism: Functions of the Union and the States, the federal structure and its challenges, and devolution of powers and finances to local levels.
- Separation of powers: The division between organs, and the mechanisms and institutions for resolving disputes between them.
- Comparison: The Indian constitutional scheme set against that of other countries.
- The legislatures: Parliament and State legislatures, their structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers and privileges.
- The executive and the judiciary: Their structure and functioning, ministries and departments, and the role of pressure groups and associations.
- Elections: The salient features of the Representation of the People Act.
- Constitutional bodies: Appointments to constitutional posts, and the powers and responsibilities attached to them.
- Other bodies: Statutory, regulatory and quasi-judicial bodies.
What a Polity Question Actually Asks
These are not questions about what an article says. They ask what an institution does, how a provision has been read by the courts, or why a mechanism has failed, which is a different demand from reciting a provision.
Recent papers have asked about the propriety of public expenditure, the growth of the cabinet system against parliamentary supremacy, and the reasons behind the rise of public interest litigation. A provision, a case and a judgement is the shape that answers them.
Governance: The Block That Has Nearly Halved
From Twenty-Three Questions to Thirteen
Governance has carried 48 questions overall, but the average conceals the movement. It asked 23 questions across 2013 to 2016 and 13 across 2021 to 2024, a fall of nearly half.
Schemes, E-Governance, Civil Services and Charters
The four clauses are government policies and the problems that arise in designing and implementing them; the development processes and the development industry, meaning non-governmental organisations, self-help groups, donors and other stakeholders; transparency, accountability and e-governance; and the role of the civil services in a democracy.
Recent papers have asked about direct benefit transfer, the Gati Shakti coordination problem, citizens' charters falling short of their promise, and what e-governance has and has not delivered. Schemes are the vehicle, but the question is almost always about the mechanism.
Why the Fall May Be Smaller Than It Looks
This decline is the least certain claim on the page, and the reason sits in the figure above. Polity rose by almost exactly as much as governance fell, and the sum of the two has not moved.
That is the pattern a genuine shift would produce. It is also exactly the pattern a drifting boundary between two adjacent blocks would produce, and nothing in the data separates the two explanations. The next section takes the safer reading.
The Domestic Half Is a Constant Twelve
Polity Plus Governance Has Not Moved in Twelve Years
Added together, polity and governance have produced between 11 and 13 questions in every one of the twelve papers. The four-year averages are 12.50 and 12.25, a difference of a quarter of a question.
| Year | Polity | International relations | Governance | Social justice | Polity and governance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 2014 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 2015 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| 2016 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 13 |
| 2017 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| 2018 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 2019 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 2020 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 2021 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 2022 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 2023 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| 2024 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
Why the Sum Is Safer to Plan On Than the Split
A candidate cannot act on a boundary we are unsure of. The sum needs no boundary at all: whichever side a question lands, it is one of about twelve domestic questions in the paper.
So the planning rule is to read the constitutional material and the governance material as one body, budgeted at twelve questions, rather than betting on the split. Our Study Library organises them that way for the same reason.
Social Justice: The Only Block That Has Not Moved
Forty-Five Questions, Steady at Under Four a Year
Social justice has carried 45 questions, 3.75 a year, and its two four-year windows are 3.50 and 3.75. That is the flattest line in the paper, and the easiest block to budget for.
It is also the smallest of the four, which is the only sense in which it is minor. Three or four questions a year is close to a fifth of the paper, so it earns real preparation.
Vulnerable Sections, Health and Education, Poverty
The three clauses cover welfare schemes for vulnerable sections by the Centre and the States and how those schemes have performed, together with the mechanisms, laws and bodies built to protect those sections; the development of the social sector across health, education and human resources; and issues of poverty and hunger.
The notice's phrasing is worth noticing: it asks about the performance of schemes and about the institutions behind them, not merely their names and outlays.
International Relations: Four Questions, Ten Years Running
The Most Predictable Number in the Examination
International relations has produced exactly four questions in every paper from 2015 to 2024. Ten consecutive papers, the same count each time. Before that it asked 8 in 2013 and 5 in 2014.
No other block in any of the four General Studies papers holds a number that steadily. The next longest run of an identical count is six papers, in the agriculture block of General Studies Paper III.
The run does not depend on where we draw a boundary either, because nothing borders this block inside the paper. Governance can bleed into polity; international relations has no neighbour to bleed into.
Neighbourhood, Groupings, Other Countries, Institutions
The four clauses are India and its neighbourhood; bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India or affecting its interests; the effect of the policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, together with the Indian diaspora; and important international institutions, agencies and fora, their structure and mandate.
The diaspora sits inside the third clause rather than having one of its own, which is easy to miss when reading the notice quickly.
What a Fixed Count Buys a Candidate
A known block size makes current affairs tractable here. Four questions is roughly one on the neighbourhood, one on a grouping or agreement, and two drawn from the year's events, so the reading has a natural stopping point.
It also sets a ceiling. Time spent following every development beyond what four answers can use is time taken from a block that asks more, and this is the one place in the examination where that ceiling is known rather than guessed.
How the Questions Are Framed
Four in Five Questions Carry an Explicit Instruction
Discuss appears in 83 of the 245 questions. Examine follows at 26, explain at 25, then critically at 20 and comment at 18.
| Directive | Questions containing it |
|---|---|
| Discuss | 83 |
| Examine | 26 |
| Explain | 25 |
| Critically | 20 |
| Comment | 18 |
| Suggest | 10 |
| Evaluate | 10 |
| Analyse | 7 |
Taken together, 192 of the 245 questions carry at least one of these twelve instructions. On the eight words General Studies Paper I uses, counted the same way for both papers, this paper scores 174 of 245 against that paper's 131 of 254, so it instructs far more explicitly even on identical terms.
Critically, Suggest and Elucidate: This Paper's Vocabulary
Three instructions are near-specialities of this paper. Critically appears 20 times and asks for a judgement rather than a balance. Suggest appears 10 times and asks for a remedy, not a diagnosis.
Elucidate appears 6 times and asks for something already stated to be made clear with detail. Answering a suggest question with an analysis, or a critically question with both sides and no verdict, loses marks the knowledge had already earned.
What a Word Limit Buys in a Polity Answer
A hundred and fifty words is an introduction, three developed points and a close. A polity question often wants a provision, a case and a judgement, which is three points, so the limit is tighter here than it looks.
Two hundred and fifty words allows an institutional question its context. Neither limit allows a survey of everything a candidate knows about the institution, which is the most common way marks are lost in this paper.
What This Means for Preparing GS Paper II
Nothing in This Paper Is Droppable
Four blocks, twelve years, no absences, and the smallest still averaging 3.75 questions a year. Unlike General Studies Paper I, this paper offers nothing that can honestly be read once and set aside.
- Polity and the Constitution first, at close to 9 questions a year and rising.
- Governance beside it, not after it, because the paper moves questions across that line.
- Social justice next, steady at 3.75 a year and the easiest block to budget.
- International relations last in order but fixed in size, at four questions every year since 2015.
Read the Domestic Half as One Body
Twelve of the twenty questions come from polity and governance together, and that total has held for twelve years while the internal split moved. Preparing them as separate silos bets on a boundary the paper does not respect.
A question on local bodies can be asked as a constitutional question or as a delivery question. The candidate who has read both sides answers either.
Budget Four Questions a Year to International Relations
This block has been exactly four questions for a decade. Preparing it as though it might be eight takes time from blocks that ask more, and preparing it as though it might be one leaves a fifth of the paper unattended.
That is also the difference between this paper and the Prelims paper, where international relations is barely a line at all.
Common Questions About the GS-II Syllabus
How many questions come in UPSC Mains GS Paper 2?
Twenty, all compulsory. Ten carry 10 marks with a 150-word limit and ten carry 15 marks with a 250-word limit, for 250 marks in three hours. That structure has been unchanged since 2017.
Which subject has the most weight in GS Paper 2?
Polity and the Constitution, at 99 of 245 questions between 2013 and 2024, about 8.25 a year. It is also the block that has grown most, from 6.75 a year to 9.00.
How much international relations comes in UPSC Mains GS 2?
Exactly four questions a year in each of the last ten papers, 2015 to 2024, which is a fifth of the paper. It is the steadiest block in any General Studies paper.
Is GS Paper 2 the same as the Prelims polity syllabus?
No. The Prelims paper tests whether a candidate can identify a provision; this one tests whether they can argue about how an institution works. Polity is about fourteen questions a year in Prelims and about eight here, out of a much smaller paper.
How much current affairs does GS Paper 2 need?
Less than its reputation suggests. The syllabus is institutional throughout, and current events enter as material for an argument rather than as facts to be recalled, most often in the four international relations questions.
Official Sources
- Union Public Service Commission: Examination Notice No. 05/2026-CSE, Civil Services Examination 2026
- Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice: The Constitution of India
- Union Public Service Commission: Civil Services Examination 2025, minimum qualifying marks
- Union Public Service Commission: Programme of Examinations and Recruitment Tests 2027
- Ministry of External Affairs: bilateral and multilateral relations documents
- Department of Personnel and Training: Gazette notifications (the Civil Services Examination Rules are notified here each year)
- National Council of Educational Research and Training: school textbooks, the base reading for the polity block
- Union Public Service Commission: online registration and application portal
- Wikipedia: Civil Services Examination
Editorial Disclaimer
The syllabus on this page is reproduced from the Commission's current examination notice, with the notice's dashes replaced by commas and colons for readability. Assigning past questions to blocks is our own analysis and is not published by the Commission. The notice in the Gazette of India is the final authority.