Subsidiarity

Not to be confused with Subsidiary or Subsidy.
For the Catholic social teaching, see Subsidiarity (Catholicism). For the principle in European Union law, see Subsidiarity (European Union).

Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as "the principle that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed at a more local level".[1] The concept is applicable in the fields of government, political science, neuropsychology, cybernetics, management and in military command (mission command). The OED adds that the term "subsidiarity" in English follows the early German usage of "Subsidiarität".[2] More distantly, it is derived from the Latin verb subsidio (to aid or help), and the related noun subsidium (aid or assistance).

The development of the concept of subsidiarity has roots in the natural law philosophy of Thomas Aquinas and was mediated by the social scientific theories of Luigi Taparelli, SJ, in his 1840–43 natural law treatise on the human person in society.[3] In that work, Taparelli established the criteria of just social order, which he referred to as "hypotactical right" and which came to be termed subsidiarity following German influences.[4]

Another origin of the concept is in the writings of Calvinist law-philosopher Johannes Althaus who used the word "subsidia" in 1603.[5][6] As a principle of just social order, it became one of the pillars of modern Catholic social teaching.[3][7] Subsidiarity is a general principle of European Union law. In the United States of America, Article VI, Paragraph 2 of the constitution of the United States is known as the Supremacy Clause. This establishes that the federal constitution, and federal law generally, take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions.[8] The principle of States' Rights is sometimes interpreted as being established by the Tenth Amendment, which says that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

  1. ^ "subsidiarity". Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. [mass noun] (in politics) the principle that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed at a more local level
  2. ^ Early German usage: Subsidiarität(1809 or earlier in legal use; 1931 in the context of Catholic social doctrine, in §80 of Rundschreiben über die gesellschaftliche Ordnung ("Encyclical concerning the societal order"), the German version of Pope Pius XI's encyclical Quadragesimo anno (1931))".
  3. ^ a b Behr, Thomas. Social Justice and Subsidiarity: Luigi Taparelli and the Origins of Modern Catholic Social Thought (Washington DC: Catholic University of American Press, December 2019).
  4. ^ Behr, Thomas. Social Justice and Subsidiarity: Luigi Taparelli and the Origins of Modern Catholic Social Thought (Washington DC: Catholic University of American Press, December 2019). See in particular the Appendix, Taparelli's "Treatise on Subsidiarity" translated in this work.
  5. ^ Endo, Ken (31 May 1994). "The Principle of Subsidiarity: From Johannes Althusius to Jacques Delors". 北大法学論集. 44 (6): 652-553. It is reasonable however to also identify Althusius as the first proponent of subsidiarity and federalism (he uses, in fact, the word "subsidia" in the text). He was a Calvinist theoretician of the laical State at the beginning of the 17th century.
  6. ^ Frederik H. Kistenkas (1 January 2000). "European and domestic subsidiarity. An Althusian conceptionalist view". Tilburg Law Review. 8 (3): 247–254. doi:10.1163/221125900X00044. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Das Subsidiaritätsprinzip als wirtschaftliches Ordnungsprinzip", Wirtschaftliche Entwicklung und soziale Ordnung. Degenfeld-Festschrift, Vienna: von Lagler and J. Messner, 1952, pp. 81–92, cited in Helmut Zenz, DE, archived from the original on 31 October 2007, retrieved 9 November 2009.
  8. ^ "Supremacy Clause". LII / Legal Information Institute. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2021.