Subsidiarity and the Voluntary Principle: Historical Reflections on Thomas Chalmers (1780–1847)

Thomas Chalmers (1780–1847) was a significant figure in the history of social thought. Central to Chalmers work was the way he brought his evangelical beliefs and wider ideas of political economy together in a distinctive manner. Chalmers is a key channel for the transmission of Smithian economics into Christian thought. Chalmers placed what he termed the moral principle at the heart of his theology and practice. By this he meant the ability of the individual to make moral choices and exercise moral restraint. This gives several distinctive characteristics to his social thought and policy. Underlying Chalmers’s thought is the notion of subsidiarity. Although the language of subsidiarity has been generally limited to Catholic social thought, the principle has also been applied and developed in the thinking of the common Christian tradition. Chalmers laid down several important principles and foundations for how this idea has been understood and applied both historically and in contemporary thinking; in particular, locality, relationships, and independence. This allows us to see the significance of the idea of subsidiarity and how these ideas have developed in both Protestant and Catholic usage in their relationship with and application to the economy and civil society.