Key Idea: Governance at HL is about what a measure spends and whether it can be enforced. Every security measure buys something and costs something; every participation mechanism sits on a rung; every anti-discrimination measure reaches one entry point and not the others.
Paper 1 Section B
- Extended response on rights, security or participation
- Concepts — power, values, identity — named explicitly
- A position taken, not a survey of views
Paper 3
- Recommend a measure for the statement's situation
- Justify it, including why it is enforceable
- State its limits, then conclude
Everywhere else
- 4.6: political processes and regulation are the SL version
- 2.3: intersectionality underlies the discrimination entry points
- 3.6: the three AI questions map onto the four entry points
Three frameworks to carry into Paper 3
| Topic | The framework | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Security | Bought, spent, and the ratchet | What does this cost, and does it end? |
| Participation | Told, asked, heard, deciding | Which rung does this reach, and why not higher? |
| Discrimination | Data, label, test, use | Which entry point does this fix? |
Removing a power means arguing publicly that a threat has receded, and nobody wants to have made that argument if anything happens afterwards — so measures are extended rather than repealed, and each emergency starts from the current position.
Four entry points, four different fixes
More data reaches only the first
- The data — who is barely in it. Fixed by collecting more, deliberately. Knowable before training.
- The label — what it was asked to predict. Fixed by predicting a different thing. Survives perfect data.
- The test — how fairness was measured. Fixed by reporting outcomes by combination rather than by single characteristic.
- The use — how the output is read. Fixed by giving the reader time and a real option to disagree. No change to the model reaches it.
Important: A measure aimed at a party the rule-writing state cannot reach is a wish. Say who your measure reaches and why that party can be reached — it is the HL difference.
Exam-style questions
A government is responding to public pressure after a major attack on national infrastructure whose author could not be identified. Recommend one measure and justify it.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Justify the claim that publishing outcome rates is a more useful requirement than requiring systems to be explainable.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Quick check
What does a security measure always spend? Something in rights, a new way in, or a power that outlasts the emergency.
The four rungs Told, asked, heard, deciding. Setting the question is most of the power.
The four entry points The data, the label, the test, the use. More data reaches only the first.
What makes a measure enforceable? Aiming it at a party the rule-writing state can actually reach.
Exam tips
- Attach a review date to every security recommendation. One sentence, and it answers the strongest objection.
- Name the rung your participation measure reaches, and why not higher.
- Say which entry point your anti-discrimination measure addresses.