For his part, Newt Gingrich has called for more personal responsibility.

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And there is mounting support on both sides of the political divide for rethinking social programmes to put more emphasis on personal responsibility.

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But he needs to exhibit a far more explicit sense of personal responsibility for his work.

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After all, as that New York Times article makes clear, McFaul is in a position of enormous personal responsibility and, more than anyone else, will help determine the next several years of the America-Russia bilateral relationship.

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Ultimately, this is a country where individual initiative and personal responsibility are what counts more than anything.

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But it combines sensible ideas from the political right (greater personal responsibility for financing unemployment) and left (more help for hard-hit workers).

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In an attempt to resolve the paradox, Mr Gazzaniga locates the origin of personal responsibility outside the brain, as a consequence of a social contract between two or more individuals.

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The idea is to pass more of the responsibility for choosing and paying for plans to workers, in the hope that a personal financial stake will encourage them to use health-care services more prudently.

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