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The principle of
subsidiarity goes back to Pope Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum and holds that
government should undertake only those initiatives which exceed the capacity
of individuals or private groups acting independently. Functions of
government, business, and other secular activities should be as local as
possible. If a complex function is carried out at a local level just as
effectively as on the national level, the local level should be the one to
carry out the specified function. The principle is based upon the autonomy
and dignity of the human individual, and holds that all other forms of
society, from the family to the state and the international order, should be
in the service of the human person. Subsidiarity assumes that these human
persons are by their nature social beings, and emphasizes the importance of
small and intermediate-sized communities or institutions, like the family,
the church, and voluntary associations, as mediating structures which empower
individual action and link the individual to society as a whole.
"Positive subsidiarity", which is the ethical imperative for
communal, institutional or governmental action to create the social
conditions necessary to the full development of the individual, such as the
right to work, decent housing, health care, etc., is another important aspect
of the subsidiarity principle.
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