DHS 2025 Control and Responsibility (Lecture Notes)

1 Name: Civics Group: 6C GCE Advanced Level | General Paper T1W9 and W10: Control and Responsibility Overview of lectures • Acquiring distinctions in your question analysis • Examining value & importance, power • Control & responsibility • Examining change & continuity Control and Responsibility • Providing a framework to help unpack questions tackling ceding control vs taking on responsibility – e.g. what happens when there’s too much or too little control in society? Who’s to blame when things go wrong? When do we take responsibility? • These two concepts of control and responsibility are complementary and are not negative in themselves; depending on the context, one might want more control or less. • However, if there is too much control, or we have taken on too much responsibility, that’s when we start seeking the other side of the loop: Essential questions guiding this lecture: Part 1 Part 2 1. What is control? 2. Who controls? 3. Why control? 4. Should we control? 1. What is responsibility? 2. Who is responsible? 3. Why allow for responsibility? ( and not control?) Relevant essay questions (list is non-exhaustive) ★ Should research into expensive medical treatments be allowed when only a few can afford them? [2008] ★ Should poorer countries develop their tourist industry when the basic needs of their own people are not being met? [2008] ★ ‘Only educated people should have the right to vote in elections.’ What is your view? [2009] ★ Should every country have the right to carry out unlimited scientific research? [2009] ★ How far can an individual be held responsible for crimes against humanity? [2009] ★ Should people be allowed to have children by artificial means? [2012] ★ How far, in your society, should unpopular views be open to discussion? [2013] ★ How far should firms be allowed to limit their workers’ rights when profits are at stake? [2014] ★ ‘Parents have no right to impose their own values and beliefs on their children.’ Discuss. [2015] ★ ‘Countries experiencing conflict should be left to sort out their own problems.’ How far DYA? [2016] ★ How far should a state have the right to monitor the actions of people within its borders? [2018] ★ ‘In a free society, there should be no restrictions on freedom of speech.’ Discuss. [2020] ★ ‘What an individual eats or drinks should not be the concern of the state.’ [2021] ★ To what extent can individuals shape their own lives when the world is so unpredictable? [2022] ★ Consider the argument that there should be no censorship of the arts in modern society. [2023] ★ Evaluate the measures taken in your society to deter crime and punish criminals. [2024] Positive Negative Positive Negative

2 Control 1. What is control? • {noun} the power to influence or direct people’s behaviour or the course of events • {verb} to determine the behaviour or supervise the running of Synonymous terms: jurisdiction, sway, power authority, command, dominance, domination, government, mastery, leadership, rule, hegemony While the term ‘control’ often carries the connotation of oppression or suppression, it is imperative to note that control is neither inherently good nor bad. The effects of control and can be both positive and negative, depending on the rationale and extent of the control enforced as well as the context in which it is being enacted. The exertion of control can also change across time, in response to evolving societal values, beliefs and norms . F orms of control 1. Formal (often written, legislated) • Government legislation, national education systems • Religious control: beliefs, rituals, rites, patterns of behaviour 2 . Informal (often spoken, online) • Cultural norms • Social cues (shaming, praising, criticising, disapproval) • Mass Media (what’s promoted sets a perceived standard for things such as beauty, love) My notes / examples: 2. Who controls and why do they control? Typically, major institutions anchor the value systems of s ocieties, by entrenching regulation and control over various domains at both micro and macro levels. Domain Why control? My notes / examples Family To protect the basic unit of society, which serves as a mechanism for allocation of resources, rights, duties and the systematic passing down of names, lineage, status and privilege. Work To ensure societal health and sustainability, since we work collectively in a society for the preservation of the commons (which are cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of society). Corporations Corporations have tremendous influence over large swathes of society. Control is also needed over them because their actions impact and involve consumers as well as employees, who may be unaware of unfair treatment or exploitation at the hands of these corporations. Government To regulate developments that could unduly threaten societal stability and compromise order, through the instruments of law and justice.

3 Education / Schools To create a citizenry that fits with the nation’s social imperatives; for social engineering. The Media To highlight issues that are most pertinent for society to address, to safeguard against deceit from public institutions or businesses or argue against damaging paradigms. Religion For the imbibing of moral values and to establish our accountability to a higher being; as a means of social or political control. The Arts Regulation can infringe on or protect the use of the Arts as a medium for social or political commentary, as well as to critique misgivings in society and to highlight societal deviance which could be blind to us. 3. Should we control? The following factors explore the consequences, contexts and capacity for control in determining whether or not it should be established. These factors flesh out the extent to which control needs to be enforced (should we allow, or regulate, or fully control?). a) Tangible cost - Is it sensible to implement control if it will challenge ingrained social standards or compromise existing values, even if this is done for the greater good of society? - Will control lead to the stagnation of innovation and ingenuity in favour of stability and safety? b) Trust and authority - Can those tasked with regulating or enforcing control be trusted to do so in a fair and just manner? - Does the authority figure have a track record of accountability and transparency? c) Jurisdiction - Is it legal for the freedoms in a specific domain to be curtailed? d) Maturity of audience - Is it logical to expect an under -aged/incapacitated a udience to be able to discern for themselves between ri ght and wrong, or must controls be enforced to guide them towards doing so?

4 4. Positives of Control a ) Stability • Regulation and varying degrees of control established across key societal institutions ensure a d egree of conformity, solidarity and continuity in a particular group or society. • This is particularly important given the heterogeneous nature of many pluralistic and multicultural s ocieties, where diverse beliefs, values, political inclinations and perspectives can threaten to pull a society apart. [ Example] To maintain social cohesion in Singapore and protect the delicate fabric of the nation (and its potential fault lines of race and religion), various laws and regulations are in place with regard to offensive content, the distribution of races across public housing nationwide, the creation of a consistent national narrative as well as accepted family forms. This is done to maintain deeply entrenched cultural norms. The education system, for instance, is strongly tied to the national narrative of creating and maintaining an active citizenry committed to serving the nation and protecting its interests. This consistent messaging is transmitted to all schools uniformly using platforms such as CCE les