Commitment vs. Accountability — What's the Difference?

The state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.

Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the public sector, nonprofit and private (corporate) and individual contexts.

An engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action

The fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility

The act of referring a legislative bill to committee.

Expected or required to account for one's actions; answerable.

Official consignment, as to a prison or mental health facility.

Capable of being explained

A court order authorizing consignment to a prison.

The state of being accountable; liability to be called on to render an account or give an explanation; liability to be held responsible or answerable for something.

A pledge or obligation, as to follow a certain course of action

An open determination of one's responsibility for something and imposition of consequences.

Something pledged, especially an engagement by contract involving financial obligation.

Good-faith acceptance of one's responsibility for something and of its consequences.

The state of being emotionally or intellectually devoted, as to a belief, a course of action, or another person

(military) The obligation imposed by law or regulation on an officer or other person for keeping accurate record of property, documents, or funds. The person having this obligation may or may not have actual possession of the property, documents, or funds. Accountability is concerned primarily with records, while responsibility is concerned primarily with custody, care, and safekeeping.

The act or an instance of committing, putting in charge, keeping, or trust, especially:

The state of being accountable; liability to be called on to render an account; the obligation to bear the consequences for failure to perform as expected; accountableness.

The act of sending a legislative bill to committee for review.

Responsibility to someone or for some activity

Official consignment sending a person to prison or a mental health institution.

Promise or agreement to do something in the future, especially:

Act of assuming a financial obligation at a future date.

Being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons.

The trait of sincerity and focused purpose.

Perpetration as in a crime or mistake.

State of being pledged or engaged.

The act of being locked away, such as in an institution for the mentally ill or in jail.

The act of committing, or putting in charge, keeping, or trust; consignment; esp., the act of committing to prison.

A warrant or order for the imprisonment of a person; - more frequently termed a mittimus.

The act of referring or intrusting to a committee for consideration and report; as, the commitment of a petition or a bill.

A doing, or perpetration, in a bad sense, as of a crime or blunder; commission.

The act of pledging or engaging; the act of exposing, endangering, or compromising; also, the state of being pledged or engaged.

The trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose;

The act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action;

An engagement by contract involving financial obligation;

A message that makes a pledge

The official act of consigning a person to confinement (as in a prison or mental hospital)