2025 Y6 GP Power (Part 2) Notes

2025 Y6 GP: Power (Part 2) How Power has evolved today (Technology reshaping Power), Implications on Stakeholders and the Shift in Power Dynamics, Uncertain Balance of Power → Need for Regulation, Control and Responsibility (next Thematic Lens) Recap: Part 1’s Lecture on Power covered the following: ● Why consider Power ● What is Power ● Origins/Sources of power ● Who wields Power (Stakeholders) ● Manifestations/Examples of Power Organisation of Notes – Part 2’s Lecture on Power will explore the following Essential Questions (EQs): 1) How has Power evolved today ? A. How are technological advancements changing the nature of power and how it is applied ? 2) How is the Changing Nature of Power affecting Stakeholders and the Power Dynamics ? A. How is technology challenging the degree of power that is traditionally held by the government ? B. How is technology strengthening the degree of power held by governments today? C. How is technology shaping the degree of power that individuals have today? Significance of these Essential Questions (EQs): ★ 1: Conceptual Understanding - Examining how power changes across time. ★ 2: Conceptual Understanding - Examining the power relationships across stakeholders - technology shaping the degree of power that governments and individuals have - under different political systems across different societal contexts. 1

1. How has Power evolved today? Traditionally , power used to be exerted from a top-down, unidirectional manner . Non-governmental organisations held governments accountable, and governments had direct control over corporations and individuals. The conventional view of how power is exerted across the stakeholders looks like this: However, today, as technology leapfrogs and pushes the frontiers of knowledge, its practical solutions have solidified our trust in it. Our increasing reliance on technology and its ubiquity is profoundly reshaping the balance of power between governments, corporations, the media, and individuals. Today, Big Tech companies are emerging as a powerful entity that possess: Hard power in the form of: 1) Resources / Wealth: Economic power — control over material resources, money, or capital that is at times larger than what governments possess . 2) Knowledge / Expertise: Intellectual or technical power — having information or specialised skills other stakeholders lack or depend on technology to guide decision making and actions. Soft power established through: 3) Networks / Relationships: Power through forming all