Subsidiarity is Conservative

One of the distinctive contributions of Catholic social teaching is the principle of subsidiarity. According to the Catechism, subsidiarity means that "neither the state nor any larger society should substitute itself for the initiative and responsibility of individuals and intermediary bodies" (CCC, 1894). If we focus on subsidiarity, the political world looks quite different from the perspective of many liberal Catholics who still embrace the Democratic Party. This difference is due to the fact that subsidiarity is a politically conservative principle.

The liberal distaste for subsidiarity--for local decision-making--is rooted in the elitism that permeates so much of American liberalism. It is an elitism on full display in certain high status college campuses. In one book on the Bush White House, the author quotes George W. Bush on his philosophy of government: "My philosophy trusts individuals to make the right decisions for their families and communities, and that is far more compassionate than a philosophy that seeks solutions from distant bureaucracies" (Ronald Kessler, A Matter of Character [Penguin, 2004], p. 58).

It seems that Bush's embrace of subsidiarity is rooted in his dislike of the elitism he saw at Yale:

"What angered me was the way such people at Yale felt so intellectually superior and so righteous . . . . They thought they had all the answers. They thought they could create a government that could solve all our problems for us." . . . . There's a "west Texas populist streak in me, and it irritates me when these people come out to Midland [Texas] and look at my friends with just the utmost disdain," Bush said. He wanted to "get away from the snobs."

Kessler, p. 31.

So here is the conservative President hated by so many liberal Catholics espousing what, in my view, is the central principle of Catholic social teaching. At this point, some might say, "Hold on. What about the Church's preferential option for the poor?" Good question. Subsidiarity is based on man's dignity as free and rational and seeks to make full use of those divinely ordained traits (see CCC 1884). Subsidiarity aims at the common good. To have a preferential option for the poor means seeking to aid the poor in the best way possible. Aiding the poor by respecting their human dignity and by being close enough to know what the poor really need and want is what subsidiarity contributes to implementing the preferential option for the poor. The Church speaks of a personal love and compassion for the poor--you cannot deliver personal love and compassion while distant from and ignorant of the lives and needs of the poor (see CCC 2447-48). The preferential option for the poor must also include the call to conversion as part of helping the poor (see CCC 1888)-- a facet exhibited by Bush's savagely mocked faith-based initiatives.

If we look closely, as George Weigel has pointed out, it seems that the conservatives are the ones most in tune with the Church's social teaching. Just consider who favors and who opposes school vouchers for the poor--a paramount issue of subsidiarity. This political reality will surprise many and anger many.