Quantified Degrees of Group Responsibility (Extended Abstract)

TL;DR

This paper introduces two formal measures of group responsibility, structural and functional, to quantify a group's potential to prevent undesirable states, advancing understanding of collective accountability.

Contribution

It proposes novel definitions for degrees of group responsibility based on a group's potential to avoid certain states, extending existing notions of responsibility.

Findings

Defines structural and functional degrees of responsibility

Provides a formal framework for measuring group responsibility

Enhances the conceptual understanding of collective accountability

Abstract

This paper builds on an existing notion of group responsibility and proposes two ways to define the degree of group responsibility: structural and functional degrees of responsibility. These notions measure the potential responsibilities of (agent) groups for avoiding a state of affairs. According to these notions, a degree of responsibility for a state of affairs can be assigned to a group of agents if, and to the extent that, the group has the potential to preclude the state of affairs.