QUESTION 8(a)
GS4
10 marks
Discipline generally implies following the order and subordination. However, it may be counter-productive for the organisation. Discuss.
WRITE IN
7 min
150 words
What the examiner wants
Discuss when obedience-based discipline helps an organisation and when it backfires.
DiscussExplain the different sides of the issue, use evidence, and finish with a balanced view.
Demand-wise check
- 1Positive: order, coordination, predictability, crisis response (army, disaster)≈30 words
- 2Counter-productive: blind obedience to illegal orders, stifled innovation and dissent, fear culture, hidden errors, low morale≈30 words
- 3Balance: self-discipline and constitutional values over mere subordination; space for dissent and feedback≈30 words
- 4Administrative example: following unlawful oral orders≈30 words
Open in about 20 words and close in about 20.
Answer plan
MeaningBenefitsHarms with examplesBalanced viewConclusion
Where marks usually go
- Only praising discipline
- No example of harmful obedience
Draw this
- Spectrum: blind obedience ↔ principled discipline ↔ anarchy
Value addition
- StudyMilgram's obedience experiments (1961) showed people harm others when ordered by authority.Stanley Milgram, Yale
- ThinkerHannah Arendt's 'banality of evil' (1963) on Eichmann following orders.Eichmann in Jerusalem, 1963
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- G Sanjana · AIR 55 · Page 3 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Aakash Garg · AIR 5 · Page 7 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Vidushi Singh · AIR 13 · Page 5 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 3 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 7 minutes, then get it checked.