Accountable Institutions, Trustworthy Cultures

Abstract

Across the last 50 years there have been huge efforts to construct more just and accountable institutions at every level from international organisations to state bureaucracies, from transnational corporations and NGOs with global reach to small businesses and local charities. This has been done both by extending law and other forms of regulation at every level from the international to the local, and by increasing second-order requirements that hold individuals and institutions to account for living up to the relevant laws and regulations. Yet increases in legislation, regulation and systems of accountability are not enough. They need the support of trustworthy and effective cultures and subcultures that enable those who inhabit them to explore, share and consider ethical as well as institutional standards to the tasks of understanding what is at stake and working out what to do.