Subsidiarity

[Chris]

I keep hearing about the idea of subsidiarity.

Subsidiarity, Federalism, and the Role of the State says this:

The principle of subsidiarity—the belief that decision-making should occur at the lowest level appropriate to its purpose—is a staple of conservative thought. In fact, it is sometimes asserted that subsidiarity “is a bulwark of limited government and personal freedom.” In general, local control is usually preferable to a decision-making process based on larger political units, in which the responsible officials are far-removed from the affected population. Local government officials are typically more responsive to individual citizens than are federal officials; local decision-making enables regional preferences and variations in lieu of stultifying uniformity; and voters can more easily replace an unresponsive local elected official than his state or federal counterparts.

It's a Catholic idea, as explained in The Principle of Subsidiarity:

One of the key principles of Catholic social thought is known as the principle of subsidiarity. This tenet holds that nothing should be done by a larger and more complex organization which can be done as well by a smaller and simpler organization. In other words, any activity which can be performed by a more decentralized entity should be. This principle is a bulwark of limited government and personal freedom. It conflicts with the passion for centralization and bureaucracy characteristic of the Welfare State.

The following video keeps it simple:



(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZFRXp7vKZI)


I'm not Catholic, not since I was an altar boy, but I still think it's a good idea.

It seems to fit in well with my growing belief in localism, something akin to what Robert Nisbet writes about in The Quest for Communiity.

[Captdon]

I have never heard that term but it is my feelings about government. When the local council member lives across the street it changes how fast things get done.

I never had to study any of this. I have to go by what I see and don't see. Example: if you believe in a minimum wage it shouldn't be the same here as in NY. If NY needs 15 an hour they should do that. Here, you can live better than any New Yorker could. Our minimum should be lower. That makes it a state decision, not a national one.

[Chris]

Indeed, at the local, community level people are more answerable to each other, their reputations are on the line. Someone needs help, you help them set up an obligation for them to help you or others.

Agree, too, the needs and wants are dependent on the place and time and community. Min wage one place is not that of another.

[Mister D]

Just keep in mind that Subsidiarity is thought of as a "Third Way" between capitalism and communism: two ideologies that eliminate intermediary social bodies and subordinate the individual to the state.

[Mister D]

http://w2.vatican.va/content/leo-xii...m-novarum.html

That the spirit of revolutionary change, which has long been disturbing the nations of the world,should have passed beyond the sphere of politics and made its influence felt in the cognate sphere of practical economics is not surprising. The elements of the conflict now raging are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the marvellous discoveries of science; in the changed relations between masters and workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals,and the utter poverty of the masses; the increased self reliance and closer mutual combination of the working classes; as also, finally, in the prevailing moral degeneracy. The momentous gravity of the state of things now obtaining fills every mind with painful apprehension; wise men are discussing it; practical men are proposing schemes; popular meetings, legislatures, and rulers of nations are all busied with it - actually there is no question which has taken deeper hold on the public mind.


...

[Chris]

Just keep in mind that Subsidiarity is thought of as a "Third Way" between capitalism and communism: two ideologies that eliminate intermediary social bodies and subordinate the individual to the state.

Right, it provides institutional barriers between the people and the state, much as, imo, from a utilitarian perspective, religion does. It, in effect, prevents the state from becoming too centralized and powerful, whether that state serves capitalism or communism.

[Mister D]

Our posts crossed. I was going to to say that Subsidiarity is closely tied to Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum.

Yes, I agree. It's not really a throwback. It's a modern solution to a distinctly modern problem.

[Captdon]

Just keep in mind that Subsidiarity is thought of as a "Third Way" between capitalism and communism: two ideologies that eliminate intermediary social bodies and subordinate the individual to the state.

The state changes in my view but has no more power.

I'm talking about government not social bodies, whatever they are.



Could you explain it a bit more? I'm curious about what to call my views.

[Mister D]

The state changes in my view but has no more power.

I'm talking about government not social bodies, whatever they are.



Could you explain it a bit more? I'm curious about what to call my views.

Sure! What I'm getting at is that in the past individuals had little to no direct contact with the state. The state, as it were, was relatively remote. Parishes, professional organizations (e.g. guilds), your town, hamlet etc. represented you. The state dealt with corporate bodies not with the individuals they were comprised of. Don't mistake this for progressive collectivism. These were organic social bodies that individuals participated in and derived their rights, privileges and even their identity from. They played a central role in peoples everyday lives from regulating prices and hours of work to what we now call welfare. Over the centuries these institutions were gradually (and purposely) destroyed. The state now plays an administrative and managerial it did not play in the past. Individuals now rely directly on the state bureaucracy for virtually everything.

[Chris]

Localism, to me, mainly deals with redistributing political authority. If one sees capitalism as a parallel or collusive authority or even an authority that subsumes politics, then I think a solution similar to subsidiarity is the distributism of Belloc and Chesterton, that is, to retain private property but distribute the means of production into as many hands as possible, i short, decentralize capitalism.