FRAMEWORK OF GOVERNANCE

POLITICAL LEGAL ADMINISTRATIVE CORPORATE SOCIAL

Exercise of Efficient, Effective Corporate Social Equity
Rule of Law
franchise and Economical Governance & Unity
Conduct of
Access to Citizen interface & Profit + Civic sense &
political
justice participation Welfare Participation
representatives
Functioning of Judicial Quality of Fair trade
Role of Media
legislature Appointments Service delivery practices

Political Judicial Forums for

Responsiveness CSR
Decentralisation Activism Public Opinion

ANSWERABILITY V/S RESPONSIBILITY

Answerability refers to the obligation created upon an individual or institution to provide justification for
its actions or decisions. Such an obligation is based upon external criteria, such as orders, rules,
commitments, charters etc. This makes it easy to identify deviations and, if required, impose material or
professional penalties. This implies that answerability is capable of being highly objective and easy to
enforce. However, its scope is limited by its dependence on the presence of adequate authority,
knowledge or time. Therefore if governance is limited to answerability, some individuals may escape the
consequences of their actions.

Thus, an indispensable component of ethical governance is a sense of responsibility. Responsibility also

involves an obligation but such an obligation is now self-imposed. This makes it more dynamic and
wider in scope than answerability, as the individual can assess changing situations and select the most
suitable course of action.

The problem with responsibility is that it is self-determined and hence subjective. This makes it difficult
to arrive at a standardised evaluation of what would constitute responsible conduct or to impose
penalties that would affect an individual’s material position. The only penalties that can be imposed are
feelings of shame, guilt or regret and even these cannot be imposed without self-realisation. Thus,
enforcing responsibility becomes extremely difficult and necessitates the establishment of accountability.