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From Pluralism to Community

Marc Stears

in Progressives, Pluralists, and the Problems of the State: Ideologies of Reform in the United States and Britain, 1909–1926

This chapter examines how the socialist pluralists responded to post-war criticisms by taking into account the philosophical basis of their concept of community including the political consequences ... More

This chapter examines how the socialist pluralists responded to post-war criticisms by taking into account the philosophical basis of their concept of community including the political consequences that made an apparent impact. It also discusses the ideological creativity of the socialist pluralists that leads to the argument of Britain's political, social, and economic system reforms. Although there are still philosophical differences, both movements returned to examine the possibility of state-led reforms and that dialogue facilitated further the identification of elements in public policy central to their immediate reformist endeavours. The potential of education is highly expected by both socialist pluralists and nationalist progressives to successfully kick-start reform processes as it was hoped that immediate improvements might signify a far wider reformist movement.Less

Religious Autonomy and the Limited State

in God's Economy: Faith-Based Initiatives and the Caring State

In a public debate dominated by ideological interest groups that thrive on creating fear about religion, the intellectual genealogy of the faith-based initiative was not well understood. Yet because ... More

In a public debate dominated by ideological interest groups that thrive on creating fear about religion, the intellectual genealogy of the faith-based initiative was not well understood. Yet because of its religious ideas, the faith-based initiative holds the key to a new debate on poverty, one that neither side of the culture war is prepared to have. This chapter examines the Catholic and Dutch Calvinist theories of the limited state that shaped the design and implementation of the faith-based initiative in America. It first looks at the Catholic concept of subsidiarity before turning to the concept of sphere sovereignty developed by the Dutch Calvinist statesman and theologian Abraham Kuyper. The chapter also discusses Christian Democracy as opposed to Christian America, as well as social pluralism whose leading English theorists were John Neville Figgis and Harold Laski. Finally, it looks at Germany, in which confessional critics of the Weimar Republic's social-democratic welfare system helped pave the way for the Nazi seizure of power.Less

The Social Law

in God's Economy: Faith-Based Initiatives and the Caring State

This chapter tries to “reframe” the debate on faith-based social policy in America, arguing that the confessional/philosophical genealogy of the faith-based initiative is becoming more relevant in ... More

This chapter tries to “reframe” the debate on faith-based social policy in America, arguing that the confessional/philosophical genealogy of the faith-based initiative is becoming more relevant in the emerging debate on economic insecurity. It considers these confessional welfare models as an expression of pluralist thought, or what it calls social pluralism. Pluralist political theory, associated in different ways with thinkers such as Felicité de Lamennais, Otto von Gierke, Harold Laski, and J. N. Figgis, roughly coincided with the emergence of confessional challenges to welfare and liberal education, as well as with the earliest stages of the politics of Christian Democracy. This “social pluralism” built in part on the older legal traditions of “church autonomy” and “freedom of the church,” but should not be confused with the rationalistic “interest-group” pluralism that characterizes American political theory. Rather, social pluralism is essentially an idea of political order that depends on older ideas of the intrinsic sovereignty of natural social structures and morally integrated groups.Less

Institutionalising Deliberative Democracy through Secondary Associations

Stephen Elstub

in Towards a Deliberative and Associational Democracy

This chapter tries to expand upon, and provide greater detail of, the already-existing literature that connects the ideal of deliberative democracy with secondary associations. It suggests that it is ... More

This chapter tries to expand upon, and provide greater detail of, the already-existing literature that connects the ideal of deliberative democracy with secondary associations. It suggests that it is features of social complexity, such as increased social pluralism, scale, inequality of deliberative and political skills and resources, the increasing reliance on specialists and globalisation, which present significant barriers to deliberative democracy being meaningfully institutionalised. The claim here is that, in an associational democracy, secondary associations would help overcome many of these barriers. Associations can aid in the cultivation of autonomy, assist in the institutionalisation of deliberative democracy and enable the state to be legitimate and effective. They do this by providing venues for decentralised governance, and by providing information and representation, which in turn creates informal public spheres that are based on public deliberation, are relatively voluntary and therefore provide choice over the source of representation and service delivery.Less

Education as Politics

Marc Stears

in Progressives, Pluralists, and the Problems of the State: Ideologies of Reform in the United States and Britain, 1909–1926

This chapter introduces the development of the adult education movement in Britain and the United States and challenges the prevailing scholarly orthodoxy that asserts that the pluralists and ... More

This chapter introduces the development of the adult education movement in Britain and the United States and challenges the prevailing scholarly orthodoxy that asserts that the pluralists and progressives engaged in educational activities in a ‘non-ideological’ and ‘non-partisan’ way. It analyses the manifold ways in which the pluralists and progressives employed their contrasting sets of ideals in constructing their accounts of the essential goals of educational reform. It identifies the goals that each movement was trying to achieve through its intervention in educational endeavours, seeking as it does so to understand the complexities of its evolving ideological programme. Finally, it examines the role that the different political environments of Britain and United States played in encouraging the two movements to reformulate their ideals.Less

The Malodorous Vice

Alexander Somek

in Individualism: An Essay on the Authority of the European Union

This chapter points out that the regulation of public health is, in some instances, intertwined with regulating morality owing to the association of health with perfection. The most recent history of ... More

This chapter points out that the regulation of public health is, in some instances, intertwined with regulating morality owing to the association of health with perfection. The most recent history of tobacco control legislation has repeatedly shown how a majority, aided and abetted by a bureaucratic elite, can succeed in transforming what was once deemed ‘normal’ into something problematic, even demonic. Legal power, in this instance, is exercised with a particularly salient de-normalising and re-normalising effect.Less

Conclusion

Mariano Croce and Marco Goldoni

in The Legacy of Pluralism: The Continental Jurisprudence of Santi Romano, Carl Schmitt, and Costantino Mortati

Chapter abstract: This conclusion offers a brief summary of the main findings of the book. The central concerns of these legal institutionalists—namely, how nomic force molds social relations and the ... More

Chapter abstract: This conclusion offers a brief summary of the main findings of the book. The central concerns of these legal institutionalists—namely, how nomic force molds social relations and the role of legal science in this process—are recapitulated. In the other part of the Conclusions, the emphasis is placed on the relevance of these approaches to law for the contemporary debate, with a focus on the issues caused by globalization and the proliferation of legal orders at different levels. A brief comparison with the methodology adopted by global administrative law, global legal pluralism, and constitutional pluralism is proposed as an illustration of the rich contribution Romano, Schmitt, and Mortati can make to the understanding of the present.Less