Subsidiarity is a way of thinking about responsibility and authority that starts from the ground up. It holds that the smallest, closed communities — beginning with the family — should do the things they are capable of doing, and that larger institutions exist to support, not replace, that work.

In Catholic social teaching, the Catechism describes subsidiarity this way: “a community of higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.” The family, local associations, and other “intermediate communities” are to be respected in their proper tasks, with higher authorities stepping in only when those smaller communities truly cannot carry a burden on their own.

Seen in this light, subsidiarity is not just a rule of institutional design but a vision of human flourishing: it assumes that people and the communities closest to them are capable of real responsibility and creative initiative, and that they grow in dignity when they are allowed — and encouraged — to exercise those gifts. When higher powers honor that pattern, the result is a more human order: one in which individuals, families, and local communities can develop their capacities, contribute to the common good, and live more fully the lives they are called to live.

The Subsidiarity Project takes this principle as a starting point for thinking about family life, law, and culture. It asks how our rules, habits, and institutions can honor the real work families already do, and how larger powers can offer genuine assistance without hollowing out the responsibilities, freedoms, and relationships that live nearest to home — so that human flourishing is strengthened rather than thinned out at each level of society.

For a fuller introduction, begin with the first essay on subsidiarity, its history, and its place in modern society: Learn More