answerability

Answerability is the obligation or capacity to provide explanations and justifications in response to questions about a statement, action, or decision. In philosophy and social theory, the term covers both epistemic answerability (the ability to supply correct or adequate answers given evidence) and normative or political answerability (the obligation to justify decisions to those affected or to an audience).

Epistemic answerability concerns whether the available reasons and evidence suffice to support a claim, while normative answerability concerns accountability, legitimacy, and responsiveness in social institutions.

In governance and public life, answerability is usually exercised through mechanisms that elicit explanations and ensure transparency, such as parliamentary questions, inquiries, audits, ombudsmen, public reporting, and other oversight processes.

Criteria for answerability include the availability of relevant reasons, access to pertinent evidence, the ability to address the questions raised, timeliness, and the option to revise positions in light of new information. Challenges include complexity, information asymmetry, strategic opacity, and incentives that deter candid explanation.

Answerability is often regarded as a component of accountability: to be answerable is to be answerable to someone—citizens, shareholders, or a legal body—for the consequences of actions and for the reasoning behind them. The concept helps distinguish merely performing duties from providing intelligible justification.

Related concepts include transparency, responsibility, and justification, with philosophers and policy analysts debating the political and ethical conditions that render answerability feasible or effective.