The Practice of Governing While Resisting the Dominant Technocratic Paradigm: MacIntyre, Manent, and Pope Francis

Manent and Perreau-Saussine have criticized MacIntyre’s work for lacking a political philosophy. This chapter argues that, while such criticisms mostly miss the mark, a response helps clarify MacIntyre’s contributions to a theory of governance. Manent and Perreau-Saussine focus on the politics of the nation-state while generally dismissing local forms of community, calling these sub-political. In contrast, MacIntyre calls for a transformative political imagination that emphasizes participation in local forms of community, suggesting these are the polis-type communities of our time. Moore’s work offers examples of such communities, along with resources for examining and evaluating the institutional governance of such communities. Those in governance roles in such institutions will need to learn to resist the temptation to command and control in the manner of the Weberian bureaucrat. Instead, what is required is the pursuit of excellence in governance activities as a domain-relative practice. Next, this chapter puts MacIntyre’s work into conversation with Pope Francis, especially Laudato Si′. Pope Francis encourages us to resist the dominant technocratic paradigm. Ten similarities between MacIntyre and Pope Francis are identified. The practice of governing local polis-type communities involves experience in a given context, formation in the virtues, and institutional structures suited to given particularities.