Yellow!
 

Hi, this is Feroze. I've been a devoted visitor to cssforum.com.pk for quite some time now, it fills me up with pride to see such a show of hospitality and selflessness amongst my fellow countrymen(and women) when it comes to sharing information or nudging someone in the right direction. Some of the questions that people ask here are so "lame" and childish but the patience that you people show in answering those questions and not ignoring them is commendable, to say the least. This forum is a great source of inspiration for "wanna-bee" CSPs such as me-self and an impeccable repository of knowledge covering all relevant subjects.

I won't be appearing for my CSS exams until atleast 2014 because I still have a year left in my Masters (Political Science). Nonetheless I'd like to begin preparing for the exams, the sooner the better right? I've just finished reading this biblical European history book which my cousin (A CSP officer, currently working in the trade ministry) was kind enough to give me. I'd be honest though, I've read it like a novel and the only thing I can recall is the French Revolution, haha.

The purpose of overcoming the lethargy; registering on the site and then committing the atrocity of making this abomination of a post is simply to ask you one "lame" question; [B]Why is there no mark-scheme available for the past papers?[/B] I mean comon, there has to be a general marking scheme for the exams right? Belonging to an O'Levels and A'Levels background I've always prepared for exams keeping the marking-schemes in mind, except maybe for my bachelors in which I didn't study a word because I knew I would pass anyway(Bachelors and Masters are a pathetic joke in this country, I don't know what sort of intellects is this country trying to produce imparting "knowledge" through our educational system, but be that as it may its a different debate altogether). CSS however is a different ball-game; its the cherry on the cake.

Please link me to marking-schemes or general guidelines in attempting the exams for the following subjects: European History, Political Science, Public Administration and International Relations. Also if you'd be kind enough to recommend books for the above mentioned subjects I'd be very grateful.

p.s = Yes Yes I'm aware the recommended books section is the forum I should be browsing but there are so many books to choose from there and I'm very confused. I "need" to read books which cover all the core topics and concepts, thankyou.

Welcome here Buddy, Best of Luck

Go to fpsc.gov.pk and click on the link publications. Over there you can read the annual reports of the FPSC like that of 2009 and 2010 in which they have given a general outline of what is expected in your papers. Unfortunately there is no detailed marking scheme available.

I took European History and Political Science in 2012 so still waiting for the result. Hence, I might not be in the best position to guide you in these subjects yet.

However, I found D Thomsons Europe since Napoleon really helpful. Its very lengthy and sometimes extremely irrelevant but it gives a lot of analysis on important topics which is really good for writing good answers. E.g it gives an extremely nuanced analysis on Napoleons character (it gives both his positive traits and his negative traits). The author does not treat him with the heroism that other books treat him with but gives a balanced account (a similar analysis is also presented for other important individuals such as Napoleon III, Bismarck, Hitler etc.) There are always questions related to the feats, achievements and disappointments of such characters. Early in my studies, I also faced this problem with European History that I tended to forget the nitty gritty details but I think by the time the exam is near and if you have gone through D Thomson a couple of times you'll remember. Since you have ample time remaining you can go through it a few more times and this won't really be a problem. You can also buy any abridged book of Euro History such as Stuart Millers book which is really useful for MCQ's and also to revise before exams. This book also gives a better picture of the causes of the French Revolution which are not that well covered by D Thomson. You can also consult the internet and look for the topics and sub topics from the syllabus, this will help in broadening your knowledge base and also help you reinforce and remember your knowledge about the topics that you have already studied.

For Pol Sci I consulted Mazhar ul Haqs book for the theory portion. It covers all topics really well. For western philosophers I consulted Harmon's book which is also comprehensive except for Mao I think (and Mao is not very important). For Muslim philosophers I consulted CSSForum notes which are very well compiled by a member. For paper two I consulted Kealy's World Consitutions. It does not contain the constitutions of some countries like Turkey and Iran i think. For these there is ample material on the internet and wikipedia to cover them. Also the book as it is published a few years ago might not contain updated information for the constitutions it covers hence you will have to consult the internet to update some outdated information (E.g the book says there is no Supreme Court in the UK however this was recently created by the UK govt. a few years back).

Good luck with your studies :)