Collective Responsibility and National Responsibility

Abstract

In his recent book, National Responsibility and Global Justice, David Miller conceptualizes and justifies a model of national responsibility. His conceptualization proceeds in two steps: he starts by developing two models of collective responsibility, the like-minded group model and the cooperative practice model. He then proceeds to discuss national responsibility, a species of collective responsibility, and argues that nations have features such that the two models of collective responsibility also apply to them.

In this article, I focus on the question whether Miller’s like-minded group model and the cooperative practice model are plausible and convincing models of collective responsibility. I will argue that the like-minded model does not provide a plausible conceptualization of collective responsibility, while the collective practice model provides a good model for collective responsibility but is not particularly helpful in conceptualizing national responsibility.

Keywords: collective responsibility, David Miller, agency, state responsibility