Subsidiarity and the safeguards of federalism

Subsidiarity is a principle in Catholic social thought that informs the distribution of authority among levels of the political and social order. First expressly articulated by Pope Pius XI in his 1931 encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno, the roots of the concept go back further to Pope Leo XIII and to Thomistic social theory. But subsidiarity is frequently subject to the criticism that it is vague and indeterminate and thereby an ineffective guide to politics and public policy. Much of the discussion of subsidiarity proceeds as though the principle were merely one of devolution of authority to the local level. Moreover, the principle is often taken to be a procedural norm, counseling "small is better" regardless of the underlying substantive question to which one is applying the principle of subsidiarity.;The thesis of this dissertation is that it is only through an adequate examination of concrete policy issues that subsidiarity's import can be fully measured and appreciated and only by asking what the common good requires in particular instances through the exercise of political prudence that the proper distribution of authority can be determined. The account of subsidiarity advanced in the dissertation is one of "functional pluralism," denoting that subsidiarity focuses upon the multiple ends of differentiated political societies and thereby seeks to determine the goods they pursue and the means that are properly adapted to those ends. The dissertation argues that federalism and localism as informed by the principle of subsidiarity provide a safeguard for fundamental concerns of Catholic social thought, such as human rights and the common good.;After examining the concepts of subsidiarity in Catholic social thought and federalism in American constitutional law and considering their relation, the dissertation discusses three areas in which a richer and analytically sharper understanding of the principle of subsidiarity can make an important contribution to policy debates over the role of federalism and localism in law and public policy. The three policy questions addressed in the dissertation are physician-assisted suicide, FDA preemption, and school finance.