Empowerment has been criticized since it leaves no one in particular accountable.

             The goal of empowerment is to provide power to the individual. Each individual is trusted to make his or her own decisions regarding his or her life and work. In this way the individual is also provided with the opportunity to take responsibility for his or her own situation in life and work.

             Empowerment of course has many levels. Politically, it means that each group of individuals within a society is given the same power and rights as all others. All sectors of society are for example allowed to vote, voice their opinions and follow political channels for change without the need to fear unreasonable persecution or other repercussions. In work, empowerment means that all individuals are allowed to apply for jobs where the likelihood of being accepted for employment depends on nothing except their qualification level. In life, empowerment means that each individual has the same rights to do the same things in society, i.e. enter public places, make use of public transportation, and the like.

             In terms of accountability, I do not believe that the criticism leveled against empowerment is valid. Instead of only a single entity being accountable for the actions within the whole of society, every individual is now required to take his or her own responsibility for his or her own life and actions. Individual accountability means that responsibility for individual actions lies with the individual. Collective actions are accounted for by groups of people.

             In this way accountability cannot be required only of leaders or other empowered individuals. Empowerment has the advantage of placing accountability at the location of every person taking certain actions. Indeed, this results in a more responsible society where fewer crimes are committed. Individuals know that certain actions will lead to certain consequences, and this knowledge leads to the accountability necessary to ensure a stable society (Dewettinck, Singh, & Buyens, 2003).