Does Catholic Social Doctrine Address Democracy?

4/5/2012

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there is an objective moral order which they must not ignore. We are to have both virtuous legislators and virtuous law.

"Those with political responsibilities must not forget or underestimate the moral dimension of political representation, which consists in the commitment to share fully in the destiny of the people and to seek solutions to social problems. In this perspective, responsible authority also means authority exercised with those virtues that make it possible to put power into practice as service (patience, modesty, moderation, charity, efforts to share), an authority exercised by persons who are able to accept the common good, and not prestige or the gaining of personal advantages, as the true goal of their work." (Compendium, No. 410)

This notion of a virtuous legislator of course would exclude any notion of political corruption, something which the Compendium recognizes as being a "most serious" deformity, a blight on the democratic process. Corruption "betrays at one and the same time both moral principles and the norms of social justice. It compromises the correct functioning of the State, having a negative influence on the relationship between those who govern and the governed."

"It causes a growing distrust with respect to public institutions, bringing about a progressive disaffection in the citizens with regard to politics and its representatives, with a resulting weakening of institutions. Corruption radically distorts the role of representative institutions, because they become an arena for political bartering between clients' requests and governmental services."

"In this way political choices favor the narrow objectives of those who possess the means to influence these choices and are an obstacle to bringing about the common good of all citizens." (Compendium, No. 411)

The common good is the end of government. Whether we are dealing with the executive, legislative, judicial branch, or any organ of public administration--national, regional, or municipal-the government must recognize that they are "oriented towards the service of citizens." They are the "steward of the people's resources, which [they] must administer with a view to the common good." (Compendium, No. 412)

As Abraham Lincoln put it in his Gettysburg Address, the people's representatives must remember that we are a "government of the people, by the people, for the people."

One evil which seems to be endemic and which must always be fought against is the problem of excessive bureaucratization. Excessive bureaucratization occurs when "'institutions become complex in their organization and pretend to manage every area at hand.'" (Compendium, No. 412) (quoting Christifidelis laici, 41).

Excessive bureaucratization works against the common good and against efficient stewardship of public resources. "In the end," excessively bureaucratic agencies of government "'lose their effectiveness as a result of an impersonal functionalism, an overgrown bureaucracy, unjust private interests, and an all-too-easy and generalized disengagement from a sense of duty.'" (Compendium, No. 412) (quoting Christifidelis laici, 41).

The danger of excessive bureaucratization is, of course, is frequently lost among the advocates of bigger government, even if they may be well-meaning. "The role of those working in public administration is not to be conceived as impersonal or bureaucratic, but rather as an act of generous assistance for citizens, undertaken with a spirit of service." (Compendium, No. 412). Excessive bureaucratization is the foul fruit of having forgotten the principle of subsidiarity.

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Andrew M. Greenwell is an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas, practicing in Corpus Christi, Texas. He is married with three children. He maintains a blog entirely devoted to the natural law called Lex Christianorum. You can contact Andrew at agreenwell@harris-greenwell.com.
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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: bureaucracy, common good, government, federal, separation of powers, Andrew M Greenwell

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1 - 4 of 4 Comments

Cletus J Tauer
1 year ago
Marvelous essay! Defines the problems well and the last sentence points to the solution, Subsidiarity.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is why we are not just a democracy but rather a Democratic Republic. The “Founders” understood, ‘Out of sight, out of mind’, and they desired a government where power would usually be exercised at the lowest practical level: THE FAMILY.

In 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinborough, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian republic some 2,000 years prior: “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. “From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.”The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith: From faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; and From dependence back into bondage.”

President Obama is purposely, or otherwise, steering us into a soft bondage where there will be two classes of people, government elites and subservient working class. Freedom will be diminished and eventually gone.

Here in Wisconsin we duly elected a fine governor who honestly did what he had said he would, but the bully Unions could not tolerate everyone being free. Thus we are faced with a multimillion dollar recall election. Millions of dollars of Union money is being spent to promote apathy and affect bondage. Please God, “Save the Republic.”
abey
1 year ago
The word Democracy is not a constant but a variable, the word which by itself is a dead word, unlike the word of GOD which is to living hence not to interpretation but to revelation. The life in the word democracy comes from the minds of those who work it based on its principles & where its output is not to reflecting the minds of the people but to the minds of its enforcers suggesting the law used to a fault or twisted through interpretation or misinterpretation thus demeaning to the constitution, narrowing its scope to the Agendas of the enforcers to the extent that the word Democracy in the meaning changes head over heels from being a government off/by/for the people to a People off/by/for the Government, from light to darkness. An Example in religious expression is the interpretations of the oral laws to form the Talmud, again subject to speculations.
Andrew Greenwell
1 year ago
Ooops. Mea culpa. Orick's should be Yorick's. Failed to catch that one!
JeanCatherine
1 year ago
Re: Women Priests

I am a women and I can speak on this topic again as I have in the past. It is quite understandable that we cannot be priests. Christ wasnt afraid of the civil authorities at the time regarding His ministry. The powers that be in the church and without seem to think that He only chose men of the time for this ministry. I think these are misleading. Think in commonsense terms regarding Christ, if He knew past, present and future He understood what He needed to do to form His ministry and church. He could have chosen His mother no one would have blinked and eye. At the time there were Priestesses in major Pagan temples. Why would Christ be afraid of instituting a female at the time if He so chose to. He wouldnt have but He chose men. This calls for wisdom here: Its not about discrimination of women its about understanding our Lord and why chose this mission. The Bible is quite clear in the New Testament especially from the Old regarding this. Were in the times of rebellion against the Church in many forms. Modernity asks for change from an Institution which was formed long ago. I say to the dissidents in the Church ask for God's guidance and stop panicking because evil through us a curveball with scandal. You dont change something the Lord handed down because of this kind of fear. I see nothing wrong with our Priests who minister to us. The church will guide her as best she can. Did you ever wonder if encouraging this kind of Priesthood is a ploy by the evil one so that we fail in our obedience to the Lord in His Commands? I wonder all the time. Leave what the Lord made alone its best this way. Its also a test to our fortitude and obedience so keep this in mind during these turbulent times. I say to the Bride: Hold out. Women leave your Lord's precepts alone.

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