Institutional Accountability and Answerability

Sor Juana's intellectual life was constrained by institutional rules she did not author and over which she had no voice: monastic schedule, ecclesiastical censorship, patriarchal restrictions on women's learning. Libertarian justice requires that institutions wielding power over individuals be answerable—they must provide reasons for their rules, submit to scrutiny, and face consequences for violations. When institutions enforce rules without justification, or claim absolute authority beyond question, they escape the accountability necessary for justice. This concept protects freedom by establishing that power is never self-justifying; even long-standing traditions require continuing rational defense. Applied to property, this means that institutions regulating property transfer, inheritance, or economic activity must justify these regulations against charges that they exceed legitimate authority or unfairly benefit insiders. Sor Juana's "Response" functions as a demand for institutional accountability: explain why women should not study theology; defend these restrictions against reason and justice. Without accountability, institutions become instruments of domination, and individuals have no recourse but silence or rebellion.