Collective Responsibility and the State.

This paper considers the question of whether and to what degree citizens are responsible collectively for the actions of their state. In contrast to current accounts of collective responsibility which focus on causality or affect as means for transmitting responsibility, the paper develops an alternative account, the "authorized state" model. This model, drawn from core intuitions of the social contract tradition, sees collective responsibility as being transmitted through the state as the agent or representative of its citizens. Having developed this model as an ideal type, the paper then assesses under what circumstances the model is most applicable, arguing that it is most relevant (1) when a collective undertakes unified, often violent or coercive action (such as in war), (2) when that action is undertaken through democratic procedures relatively free of manipulation or deception and (3) where such action does not entail the application of collective punishment. The paper finally applies the model to the U.S. war in Iraq to assess the collective responsibilty of U.S. citizens for the outcomes of that war. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]