The importance to society of personal control
Large swathes of the public are very insecure and feel they have limited control of their lives. The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) demonstrates, in the report Personal control. The importance to society of personal control that the combination of insecurity and a lack of control can lead to poorer health, is a source of societal unease and is associated with perceptions and convictions that may be at odds with the democratic state under the rule of law.
The English summary of the report Grip. Het maatschappelijk belang van persoonlijke controle is now available and can be downloaded from the website. The WRR presented the report to the Dutch government on 30th of November 2023.
Life goals
The key message of the report is that, when making and implementing policies, the government should put more effort into strengthening the personal control that members of the public have. By this, we mean people’s ability to influence what they are looking for in life, such as having a job they enjoy, earning enough income or having a good living environment. The WRR invites policymakers to consider policy from a personal control point of view: how can the government give citizens greater personal control so that they can take steps towards achieving their life goals?