DIRECTIONS for questions 15-16: The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.

1. It can in fact be integrated into any function (education, medical treatment, production, punishment); it can increase the effect of this function, by being linked closely with it; it can constitute a mixed mechanism in which relations of power (and of knowledge) may be precisely adjusted, in the smallest detail, to the processes that are to be supervised; it can establish a direct proportion between ‘surplus power’ and ‘surplus production’.

2. It’s a case of ‘it’s easy once you’ve thought of it’ in the political sphere.

3. The panoptic mechanism is not simply a hinge, a point of exchange between a mechanism of power and a function; it is a way of making power relations function in a function, and of making a function function through these power relations.

4. In short, it arranges things in such a way that the exercise of power is not added on from the outside, like a rigid, heavy constraint, to the functions it invests, but is so subtly present in them as to increase

The correct sequence is 3142.

To logically sequence these sentences into a coherent paragraph, we must identify the core topic and trace how the idea is developed.

Sentence 3 serves as the best introductory sentence because it introduces the primary subject: "The panoptic mechanism". It defines the mechanism conceptually, explaining that it is "a way of making power relations function in a function".

Sentence 1 directly builds upon the foundation laid in sentence 3. While sentence 3 introduces the idea of integrating power into a "function", sentence 1 provides concrete details on how this happens: "It can in fact be integrated into any function (education, medical treatment...)". The pronoun "It" clearly refers to the panoptic mechanism mentioned in sentence 3.

Sentence 4 acts as a summarizing thought for the details provided in sentence 1. The transition phrase "In short" signals that it is condensing the previous complex ideas. It summarizes how the mechanism arranges things so that power is seamlessly integrated ("subtly present") rather than added from the outside, perfectly capping off the explanation from sentence 1.

Sentence 2 provides a concluding, high-level commentary on the entire concept. By stating "It's a case of 'it's easy once you've thought of it' in the political sphere", it steps back from the mechanical details and offers a final observation on the mechanism's broader political impact.

Therefore, the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences is 3142.