There are two ways of thinking about responsibility. They are interdependent, but they are significantly different. Accountability holds people to account and seeks to ensure good behaviour.  Respons-ability requires the willingness to respond and to take respons-ability for improving our world.

Accountability

Actions and consequences can be attributed to individuals or legal entities, who can be held accountable, and legally they are liable. Revealing the consequences of actions or inactions can also be used to raise awareness and elicit a response. Responsibility can be given in a rather limited legal sense, responsibility can be imposed by legal frameworks or professional codes. It can be expected and reinforced by social norms.

Respons-ability

Individuals and organisations are expected to respond and to make a difference. This requires partnerships, a plurality of relationships, learning, praxis, and critical reflection. People who exercise respons-ability have empathy, they have a strong sense of the “other”.They recognise interdependence and the responsibility which flows from that. They have the impetus to responsibility, they have or seek roles where they can exert agency. They require what Aristotle called phronesis, the ability to determine ends and to act in particular contexts. This requires prudence and a degree of maturity.