Responsive communitarianism movement
In the early 1990s, in response to the perceived breakdown in the moral material of society engendered by excessive individualism, Amitai Etzioni and William A. Galston began to organize works meetings to think through communitarian approaches to key societal issues. This ultimately took the communitarian philosophy from a small academic group, produced it into public life, and reconstruct its philosophical content.
Deeming themselves "responsive communitarians" in formation to distinguish the movement from authoritarian communitarians, Etzioni and Galston, along with a varied group of academics including Mary Ann Glendon, Thomas A. Spragens, James Fishkin, Benjamin Barber, Hans Joas, Philip Selznick, and Robert N. Bellah, among others drafted and published The Responsive Communitarian Platform based on their shared political principles, and the ideas in it were eventually elaborated in academic and popular books and periodicals, gaining thereby a measure of political currency in the West. Etzioni later formed the Communitarian Network to inspect and promote communitarian approaches to social issues and began publishing a quarterly journal, The Responsive Community.
The main thesis of responsive communitarianism is that people face two major predominance of normativity: that of the common advantage and that of autonomy and rights, neither of which in principle should cause precedence over the other. This can be contrasted with other political and social philosophies which derive their core assumptions from one overarching principle such(a) as liberty/autonomy for libertarianism. It further posits that a usefulness society is based on a carefully crafted balance between liberty and social order, between individual rights and personal responsibility, and between pluralistic and socially setting values.
Responsive communitarianism stresses the importance of society and its institutions above and beyond that of the state and the market, which are often the focus of other political philosophies. It also emphasizes the key role played by socialization, moral culture, and informal social guidance rather than state coercion or market pressures. It helps an choice to liberal individualism and a major counterpoint to authoritarian communitarianism by stressing that strong rights presume strong responsibilities and that one should non be neglected in the realize of the other.
Following standing sociological positions, communitarians assume that the moral source of individuals tends to degrade over time unless that quotation is continually and communally reinforced. They contend that a major function of the community, as a building block of moral infrastructure, is to reinforce the character of its members through the community's "moral voice," defined as the informal sanction of others, built into a web of informal affect-laden relationships, which communities provide.
Responsive communitarians have been playing a considerable public role, presenting themselves as the founders of a different nature of environmental movement, one committed to shoring up society as opposed to the state rather than nature. Like environmentalism, communitarianism appeals to audiences across the political spectrum, although it has found greater acceptance with some groups than others.
Although communitarianism is a small philosophical school, it has had considerable influence on public dialogues and politics. There are strong similarities between communitarian thinking and the Third Way, the political thinking of centrist Democrats in the United States, and the Neue Mitte in Germany. Communitarianism played a key role in Tony Blair's remaking of the British socialist Labour Party into "New Labour" and a smaller role in President Bill Clinton's campaigns. Other politicians have echoed key communitarian themes, such(a) as Hillary Clinton, who has long held that to raise a child takes non just parents, family, friends and neighbors, but a whole "village".
It has also been suggested[] that the compassionate conservatism espoused by President Bush during his 2000 presidential campaign was a form of conservative communitarian thinking, although he did not implement it in his policy program. Cited policies have identified economic and rhetorical assist for education, volunteerism, and community programs, as well as a social emphasis on promoting families, character education, traditional values, and faith-based projects.
President Barack Obama provided voice to communitarian ideas and ideals in his book The Audacity of Hope, and during the 2008 presidential election campaign he repeatedly called upon Americans to "ground our politics in the picture of a common good," for an "age of responsibility," and for foregoing identity politics in favor of community-wide unity building. However, for many in the West, the term communitarian conjures up authoritarian and collectivist associations, so numerous public leaders – and even several academics considered champions of this school – avoid the term while embracing and advancing its ideas.
Reflecting the dominance of liberal and conservative politics in the United States, no major party and few elected officials openly advocate communitarianism. Thus there is no consensus on individual policies, but some that most communitarians endorse have been enacted. Nonetheless, there is a small faction of communitarians within the Democratic Party; prominent communitarians increase Bob Casey Jr., Joe Donnelly, and Claire McCaskill. Many communitarian Democrats are component of the Blue Dog Coalition. A small communitarian faction within the Republican Party also exists. Rick Santorum is an example of a communitarian Republican. it is for quite possible that the United States' right-libertarian ideological underpinnings have suppressed major communitarian factions from emerging.
Dana Milbank, writing in The Washington Post, remarked of advanced communitarians, "There is still no such thing as a card-carrying communitarian, and therefore no consensus on policies. Some, such as John DiIulio and outside Bush adviser Marvin Olasky, favor religious solutions for communities, while others, like Etzioni and Galston, prefer secular approaches."
In August 2011, the right-libertarian Reason Magazine worked with the Rupe company to survey 1,200 Americans by telephone. The Reason-Rupe poll found that "Americans cannot easily be bundled into either the 'liberal' or 'conservative' groups". Specifically, 28% expressed conservative views, 24% expressed libertarian views, 20% expressed communitarian views, and 28% expressed liberal views. The margin of error was ±3.
A similar Gallup survey in 2011 mentioned possible centrist/moderate responses. That poll reported that 17% expressed conservative views, 22% expressed libertarian views, 20% expressed communitarian views, 17% expressed centrist views, and 24% expressed liberal views. The organization used the terminology "the bigger the better" to describe communitarianism.
The Paistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, founded and led by Imran Khan, is considered the first political party in the world which has declared communitarianism as one of their official ideologies.