Beyond Left and Right, Liberal and Conservative: Time for Good Governance

Catholic Online ^ | deacon Keith Fournier

[tcg]

EXCERPTS:

...Is it Moral? Does it recognize the existence of the higher law, the Natural Law which is a participation in God's Law? Does it affirm that there are self evident truths? Does it recognize the fundamental human rights with which we are all endowed and acknowledge that these rights are not given to us by civil government but by God? Does it affirm the nature and dignity of the human person as created in the Image of God?

... recognize the primacy of true marriage and the family and society founded upon it and serve the true common good? Does it promote genuine human freedom, flourishing, creativity and initiative among the citizens?

Is it effective, efficient and just? Does it respect the self government of each individual human person? Does it defer to the smallest social governing unit of the family? Does it respect the other proper mediating institutions and defer first to them before assigning the task it attempts to accomplish to the centralized or federal government?

...Good governance acknowledges the vital role of mediating institutions and associations in governance. The first is the family. It defers to and respects their function. They are the best place for governance to first occur. This model of governance respects both solidarity and subsidiarity.

...The Federal Government should be the last place, not the first place, to which we look in our efforts to fashion a truly just society and an effective model of self government. Does it have a role? Yes, but the principle of subsidiarity must be applied. It is time to move beyond left and right. It is time for good governance...

[tcg]

There is little discussion about the principle of subsidiarity in Catholic circles and virtually none in the national political debate. Many Catholics do not even know that there is such a principle within the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church. Instead they have borrowed charged rhetoric from both the political left and the political right for far too long and failed to offer their unique contribution to the common good. We need an intelligent discussion of the underlying issue - what constitutes "good" governance - and Catholics can and should take the lead.