6.12 Assessing Roles and Responsibilities for Global Issues


Global issues are often very complex, involving individuals, groups of people, organizations, local and national governments, multinational corporations, and international agencies that are connected in many ways. Who decides what actions need to be taken, or who is responsible when something goes wrong? Who enforces action if wrongdoing has occurred?

Who is Responsible?


How do we assess responsibility for actions with global consequences?

We know that governments and individuals, organizations, and businesses that operate within a country have responsibility to establish and enforce laws, rules, and procedures that benefit all citizens. Organizations and corporations that function in several nations also are responsible for the following:

  • obeying all national laws in the countries where they operate (Governments also have responsibility to enforce these laws.)

  • obeying international law (Governments also have responsibility to enforce these laws.)

  • considering fundamental rights of all people

  • staying informed about issues

Whenever we evaluate something, we must apply certain criteria to our decision making. We also need to find evidence to support our assessments.


We can rate the responsibilities of governments, businesses, organizations and individuals using the four criteria on a scale of 1 to 5.

1 - did not comply

2 - complied to a limited extent

3 - complied somewhat

4 - complied to a great extent

5 - fully complied with responsibilities


Perspectives on Global Responsibilities

If we all have a clear understanding about what our roles are, then we can be sure that our global society functions well. However, there are different perspectives on what the role of governments, both national and international, should be. One perspective is that governments should not interfere with business in any circumstance and that the power of consumers will force companies and other countries to behave properly. Some nations, both democratic and otherwise, believe that they should abide only by their own laws and ignore international law. Some powerful corporations frequently act over and above national laws, working to achieve profits for their shareholders regardless of the fundamental rights of their workers or the laws governing local environments. Some religious groups believe that we should have no government and that we should all follow the laws as set down by a higher power. What's your perspective?