Clark and Jain on Subsidiarity

Clark and Jain note,

Unfortunately in the modern era, the relational nature of man has been reduced almost entirely to the relation of the individual to the state. Family, neighborhood, church, and other local forms of community have been displaced. Recovering these mediating communities is a central emphasis of Catholic social teaching as expressed in the concept of subsidiarity. The principle of subsidiarity refuses to let higher levels of social organization do what more local levels can do satisfactorily. Never task the state government to implement policies that can be decided and carried out by a mayor's office. Recovering mediating communities is also a priority for the heirs of the thought of Abraham Kuyper as expressed in notions of sphere sovereignty. The need is pronounced because today many mediating communities have disappeared, even as witnessed in the contemporary breakdown of the family. And because of the enormity of the state in relation to the individual, the state seldom relies upon virtue, trust, shared wisdom, and noble leaders to inspire its citizens, but instead relies upon bureaucratic control.

​Clark, Kevin and Ravi Scott Jain. The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education. Revised ed. Camp Hill, PA: Classical Academic Press, 2019. pg. 164-5. (emphases mine)