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
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'' 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". The concept is applicable in the fields of government,
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
,
neuropsychology,
cybernetics, management and in military command (
mission command
Mission command, also referred to as mission-type tactics, is a style of military command, derived from the Prussian-pioneered mission-type tactics doctrine, which combines centralized intent with decentralized execution subsidiarity and promotes f ...
). The OED adds that the term "subsidiarity" in English follows the early German usage of ''"Subsidiarität"''. More distantly, it is derived from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
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
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
and was mediated by the social scientific theories of
Luigi Taparelli
Luigi Taparelli (born Prospero Taparelli d'Azeglio; 1793–1862) was an Italian Jesuit scholar of the Society of Jesus and counter-revolutionary who coined the term social justice and elaborated the principles of subsidiarity, as part of his nat ...
, SJ, in his 1840–43 natural law treatise on the human person in society.
[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).] 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.
Another origin of the concept is in the writings of
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
law-philosopher
Johannes Althaus
Johannes Althusius (1563 – August 12, 1638). was a German jurist and Calvinist political philosopher.
He is best known for his 1603 work, ''"Politica Methodice Digesta, Atque Exemplis Sacris et Profanis Illustrata"''. revised editions were publi ...
who used the word "subsidia" in 1603.
As a principle of just social order, it became
one of the pillars of modern Catholic social teaching.
[, cited in .] Subsidiarity is a
general principle of European Union law
The general principles of European Union law are general principles of law which are applied by the European Court of Justice and the national courts of the member states when determining the lawfulness of legislative and administrative measures ...
. In the United States of America, Article VI, Paragraph 2 of the
constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
is known as the
Supremacy Clause
The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States ( Article VI, Clause 2) establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme Law of the Land", and thu ...
. This establishes that the federal constitution, and federal law generally, take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions. The principle of
States' Rights
In American political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments rather than the federal government according to the United States Constitution, reflecting especially the enumerated powers of Congress and the ...
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."
Political theory
Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his wor ...
's classic study, ''
Democracy in America
(; published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840) is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. Its title literally translates to ''On Democracy in America'', but official English translations are usually simply entitl ...
'', may be viewed as an examination of the operation of the principle of subsidiarity in early 19th century America. Tocqueville noted that the French Revolution began with "a push towards decentralization ... in the end, an extension of centralization". He wrote that "Decentralization has, not only an administrative value, but also a civic dimension, since it increases the opportunities for citizens to take interest in public affairs; it makes them get accustomed to using freedom. And from the accumulation of these local, active, persnickety freedoms, is born the most efficient counterweight against the claims of the central government, even if it were supported by an impersonal, collective will."
[A History of Decentralization]
Earth Institute
{{Infobox organization
, name = The Earth Institute
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of Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, retrieved 4 February 2013
As
Christian Democratic political parties were formed, they adopted the
Catholic social teaching of subsidiarity, as well as the
neo-Calvinist
Neo-Calvinism, a form of Dutch Calvinism, is a theological movement initiated by the theologian and former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper. James Bratt has identified a number of different types of Dutch Calvinism: The Seceders, split into ...
theological teaching of
sphere sovereignty
In neo-Calvinism, sphere sovereignty ( nl, soevereiniteit in eigen kring), also known as differentiated responsibility, is the concept that each sphere (or sector) of life has its own distinct responsibilities and authority or competence, and stan ...
, with both Catholics and Protestants agreeing "that the principles of sphere sovereignty and subsidiarity boiled down to the same thing".
The term "subsidiarity" is also used to refer to a tenet of some forms of conservative or
libertarian thought in the United States. For example, conservative author
Reid Buckley
Fergus Reid Buckley (July 14, 1930 – April 14, 2014) was an American writer, speaker, and educator. Buckley was the founder of The Buckley School of Public Speaking. Among his books is a history of his family, ''An American Family—The Buckleys' ...
writes:
Will the American people never learn that, as a principle, to expect swift response and efficiency from government is fatuous? Will we never heed the principle of subsidiarity (in which our fathers were bred), namely that no public agency should do what a private agency can do better, and that no higher-level public agency should attempt to do what a lower-level agency can do better – that to the degree the principle of subsidiarity is violated, first local government, the state government, and then federal government wax in inefficiency? Moreover, the more powers that are invested in government, and the more powers that are wielded by government, the less well does government discharge its primary responsibilities, which are (1) defence of the commonwealth, (2) protection of the rights of citizens, and (3) support of just order.
The
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
's 1999 report on decentralisation noted that subsidiarity was an important principle. It quoted one definition:
Decentralization, or decentralising governance, refers to the restructuring or reorganisation of authority so that there is a system of co-responsibility between institutions of governance at the central, regional and local levels according to the principle of subsidiarity, thus increasing the overall quality and effectiveness of the system of governance, while increasing the authority and capacities of sub-national levels.
According to
Richard Macrory, the positive effects of a political/economic system governed by the principle of subsidiarity include:
[Macrory, Richard, 2008, Regulation, Enforcement and Governance in Environmental Law, Cameron May, London, p. 657.]
* Systemic failures of the type seen in the crash of 2007/08 can largely be avoided, since diverse solutions to common problems avoid
common mode failure
Common and special causes are the two distinct origins of variation in a process, as defined in the statistical thinking and methods of Walter A. Shewhart and W. Edwards Deming. Briefly, "common causes", also called natural patterns, are the ...
.
* Individual and group initiative is given maximum scope to solve problems.
* The systemic problem of
moral hazard
In economics, a moral hazard is a situation where an economic actor has an incentive to increase its exposure to risk because it does not bear the full costs of that risk. For example, when a corporation is insured, it may take on higher risk ...
is largely avoided. In particular, the vexing problem of atrophied local initiative/responsibility is avoided.
He writes that the negative effects of a political/economic system governed by the principle of subsidiarity include:
* When a genuine principle of liberty is recognised by a higher political entity but not all subsidiary entities, implementation of that principle can be delayed at the more local level.
* When a genuinely efficacious economic principle is recognised by a higher political entity, but not all subsidiary entities, implementation of that principle can be delayed at the more local level.
* In areas where the local use of common resources has a broad regional, or even global, impact, higher levels of authority may have a natural mandate to supersede local authority.
[
]
General principle of European Union law
Subsidiarity is perhaps presently best known as a general principle of European Union law
The general principles of European Union law are general principles of law which are applied by the European Court of Justice and the national courts of the member states when determining the lawfulness of legislative and administrative measures ...
. According to this principle, the Union may only act (i.e. make laws) collectively where independent action of individual countries is insufficient without equal action by other members. The principle was established in the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht
The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve member states of the European Communities, it announced "a new stage in the pr ...
. However, at the local level it was already a key element of the European Charter of Local Self-Government
The European Charter of Local Self-Government was adopted under the auspices of the Congress of the Council of Europe and was opened for signature by the Council of Europe's member states on 15 October 1985. All Council of Europe member states a ...
, an instrument of the Council of Europe promulgated in 1985 (see Article 4, Paragraph 3 of the Charter) (which states that the exercise of public responsibilities should be decentralised). Subsidiarity is related in essence to, but should not be confused with, the concept of a margin of appreciation
The margin of appreciation (or margin of state discretion) is a legal doctrine with a wide scope in international human rights law. It was developed by the European Court of Human Rights to judge whether a state party to the European Convention on ...
.
Subsidiarity was established in EU law by the Treaty of Maastricht
The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve member states of the European Communities, it announced "a new stage in the pr ...
, which was signed on 7 February 1992 and entered into force on 1 November 1993. The present formulation is contained in Article 5(3) of the Treaty on European Union
The Treaty on European Union (2007) is one of the primary Treaties of the European Union, alongside the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The TEU form the basis of EU law, by setting out general principles of the EU's ...
(consolidated version following the Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...
, which entered into force on 1 December 2009):
Under the principle of subsidiarity, in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Union shall act only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, either at central level or at regional and local level, but can rather, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved at Union level.
The national parliaments of EU member states have an "early warning mechanism" whereby if one third raise an objection – a "yellow card" – on the basis that the principle of subsidiarity has been violated, then the proposal must be reviewed. If a majority do so – an "orange card" – then the council or parliament can vote it down immediately. If the logistical problems of putting this into practice are overcome, then the power of the national parliaments could be deemed an extra legislature, without a common debate or physical location: dubbed by EUObserver a "virtual third chamber".
A more descriptive analysis of the principle can be found in Protocol 2 to the European Treaties.Protocol 2 to the European Treaties
Court of Justice
The
Court of Justice of the European Union
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (french: Cour de justice de l'Union européenne or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembour ...
in Luxembourg is the authority that has to decide whether a regulation falls within the exclusive competence of the Union, as defined by the
Treaty on European Union
The Treaty on European Union (2007) is one of the primary Treaties of the European Union, alongside the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The TEU form the basis of EU law, by setting out general principles of the EU's ...
and its predecessors. As the concept of subsidiarity has a political as well as a legal dimension, the Court of Justice has a reserved attitude toward judging whether EU legislation is consistent with the concept. The Court will examine only marginally whether the principle is fulfilled. A detailed explanation of the legislation is not required; it is enough that the EU institutions explain why national legislation seems inadequate and that Union law has an added value.
An example is the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in a legal action taken by the Federal Republic of Germany against the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union concerning a Directive on
deposit guarantee schemes (13 May 1997). Germany argued that the Directive did not explain how it was compatible with the principle of subsidiarity. The Court answered:
See also
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References
Notes
External links
Treaty establishing the European Community* The Assembly of European Regions
movement, demanding recognition in dictionaries worldwide
"Subsidiaritaet" in the ''Lexikon der sozialoekologischen Marktwirtschaft''
{{Authority control
Conservatism
Cybernetics
Decentralization
European Union law
Federalism
Legal doctrines and principles
Libertarian socialism