IMAGE: CNS photo/Michael Reynolds, Reuters
By Carolyn Mackenzie
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Sen. Mike
Lee, R-Utah, has initiated the Social Capital Project, a research effort that
examines the importance of “associational life,” which includes families,
religious congregations and other communities.
The project found that civil
society has declined in America, and a panel at the American Enterprise
Institute introduced localism and federalism as two routes for combating this
trend.
Lee’s address and a subsequent
panel discussion among a team of experts took place July 12 and explored the
topics of localism and social capital. The participants talked about “why
federalism is key to restoring civic connectedness and faith in the American
government.”
The project also researched
religion in the United States, as religious institutions naturally facilitate
the types of communities that the project discovered are declining. The project
cited surveys that found only 42 to 44 percent of Americans attend religious
services monthly — part of a trend of fewer people being raised in religious
traditions and more people exhibiting decreased confidence in organized
religion.
“Church attendance and trust in
organized religion have dropped sharply since the 1970s,” Lee said. “The
destruction of community life is a spiritual crisis for millions of our fellow
citizens.”
Ryan Streeter, director of
domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, introduced Lee. Vice
chair of the Joint Economic Committee in Congress, Lee began his remarks by
referencing a common platform for social interactions: Facebook. Dubbed a
“community” by founder Mark Zuckerberg, the site has approximately 2 billion
monthly users. Lee argued, however, that Facebook is not a true community.
“Community institutions like
churches and like little leagues can’t be replaced by the glowing rectangles
that we keep in our pockets, that we sometimes seem to check obsessively,” Lee
said. “Rather, community is the stage where we perform the most rewarding roles
in our lives, as children and parents, as siblings, as spouses, as friends, as
mentors and disciples.”
The Social Capital Project
released its first report in May and found that American communities are
growing weaker. Lee argued that as the federal government has expanded,
offering programs more traditionally offered by religious institutions,
communities have begun to come apart.
“Government crowds out civic
groups by competing with them to perform civic functions,” Lee said.
Lee, however, did not advocate
for a repeal of government programs. Rather, he suggested a focus on
initiatives at the state and local levels, which would do more to serve
communities.
“The government does not have to
refrain from playing a role, but it needs to aim for city hall rather than the
federal government,” Lee said. “It should be the people’s servant.”
A panel discussion followed
Lee’s remarks. Joel Kotkin, presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman
University and executive director of the Center for Opportunity Urbanism,
moderated the panel and asked the participants for their reaction to Lee’s
words.
Lee Drutman, senior fellow in
the program on political reform at the think tank New America, considered the
fractured political climate in his response.
“Let’s face reality,” Drutman
said. “We are an incredibly divided country.”
Drutman described two competing
visions that emerged in the 1960s and still affect America. One was diverse,
urban and socially progressive; the other was rooted in faith, tradition and
small-town life. Drutman explained that the 2016 election placed these two
ideologies in opposition.
As a result of the election of
President Donald Trump, Drutman remarked that many Democrats say they do not
recognize the United States under Trump.
“Think about what that’s doing
to our collective psyche as a nation,” Drutman said.
Yuval Levin, the Hertog fellow
at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the editor of National Affairs
magazine, also recognized this adverse effect upon the American mindset and
community.
“We have in our politics a
debate between two radical forms of individualism,” Levin said.
In response to this rise of
individualism, the panelists had a debate over localism and federalism as two
potential solutions. Consensus among the panelists was that the party out of
power in Washington often “remembers” federalism while the opposition party
does not have as much incentive to do so, since its members can enact change on
a national level.
“There are some who have been
making this case for a while,” Drutman said. “People who are minorities at the
national level can come to set policy at the local level.”
Drutman shared some caveats
about localism, pointing out that voter turnout is typically low in local
elections. Furthermore, he argued, people tend to trust local government more
but tend to know less about it than they do of the federal government.
“People most trust the
institutions they know nothing about,” Drutman said.
Levin, while agreeing that
localism helps to foster civil society, also warned that often localism can
lead to “majority tyranny,” as James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 10, of the
Federalist Papers. He and Winship cited race in the 1960s as an example.
“The history of race in America
offers an argument against localism that cannot be ignored,” Levin said.
Scott Winship, director of the
Social Capital Project, asserted that for localism to work properly, America
needs strong local institutions as well as strong communities.
“Affluence has allowed us to
outsource the responsibilities we used to have to each other,” Winship said.
Winship explained that as
Americans become wealthier, they rely less upon their neighbors for simple
favors that form the foundation of community life.
“We may be materially richer
than in the past,” read the project’s May report. “But with atrophied social
capabilities, with a diminished sense of belonging to something greater than
ourselves, and with less security in our family life, we are much poorer for
doing less together.”
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