subsidiarity
Decide locally first
Subsidiarity is the principle that decisions should be made at the lowest effective level of authority—local before regional, regional before national.
The concept appears most often in political philosophy, Catholic social teaching, and European Union governance.
A subsidiarity argument holds that central authorities should handle only what smaller units cannot: The EU's subsidiarity principle limits Brussels to matters member states can't address alone.
Distributing power from center
- localismPreference for nearby things
- federalismDivided governmental authority system
- proportionalityScaling relationship between quantities
- solidarityUnity among allies
competence · empowerment · complementarity · polycentric · multilevel · distributive · cohesion · participation
Transferring power locally
- jurisdictionLegal authority's scope
- delegationTransferring responsibility downward
- self-governanceIndependent management of affairs
- home ruleDelegated local autonomy
local authority · municipality · regional government · federalism · confederation · canton · autonomy · decentralized
Control over one's fate
- self-governanceIndependent management of affairs
- independenceFreedom from external control
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
- self-ruleGovernance without outside control
agency · grassroots · community · neighborhood · township · parish · borough · district
Heights or ranked stages
- tiersHorizontal arranged levels
- echelonsLevels within a hierarchy
- stratificationDivision into distinct levels
- chain of commandFormal authority hierarchy
organizational structure · pyramid · vertical · nested · scalar · gradation · superior · subordinate
decentralization
Distributing power from center
- localismPreference for nearby things
- federalismDivided governmental authority system
- proportionalityScaling relationship between quantities
solidarity · competence · empowerment · complementarity · polycentric · multilevel · distributive · cohesion · participation · Maastricht
devolution
Transferring power locally
- jurisdictionLegal authority's scope
- delegationTransferring responsibility downward
- self-governanceIndependent management of affairs
home rule · local authority · municipality · regional government · federalism · confederation · canton · autonomy · decentralized · legislative power
self-determination
Control over one's fate
- self-governanceIndependent management of affairs
- independenceFreedom from external control
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
self-rule · agency · grassroots · community · neighborhood · township · parish · borough · district · village
levels
Heights or ranked stages
- tiersHorizontal arranged levels
- echelonsLevels within a hierarchy
- stratificationDivision into distinct levels
chain of command · organizational structure · pyramid · vertical · nested · scalar · gradation · superior · subordinate · central
- governancegovernance, government, democracy, vote, parliament
- SwitzerlandBern, Geneva, Zurich, Basel, Lausanne
- public policypolicy making, policy reform, economic policy, policy recommendations, education policy
- decentralizationdecentralized, distribute, spread, disperse, scatter
- federalismstates' rights, federal law, federal district, enumerated powers, federal agency
- French governmentregions, prefecture, departments, communes, departement
subsidiaritycentralization
Unifying control in one place
centralism · central control · central planning · statism · command economy
subsidiaritycentral authority
Single governing power source
consolidation · top-down management · dirigisme · paternalism · micromanagement