Subsidiariedade

: doutrina política e modelo de Estado

Abstract

Subsidiarity is a natural law principle that regulates competences based on their own responsibilities. It is also a democratic principle insofar as its application prevents the omnipotence of the institutions and the State. We recognize that the State must act alongside the other communities that precede it and, in addition to being a substitute, must be subsidiary. Power must be shared by all structures of society and co-exist in an environment of mutual reciprocity where everyone assumes their rights and duties. It will be up to the State, as a fundamental element for the common good, to frame the responsibilities and capacities of all, encouraging them with the same conviction as their responsibility assumes. We intend to demonstrate that subsidiarity is a political doctrine in the legal and administrative applications and is a model of State with orientations of internal and external organization. The subsidiary State has an internal function when it responds to the new challenges of its population within its territory - subsidiary welfare State. And it has an external function as the guiding matrix of the international organization - subsidiary sovereign state. The subsidiary state is built on fundamental concepts that we call structural principles: freedom, responsibility, participation, creativity, solidarity and proximity. United for the sake of the common good, the structuring principles of the subsidiary State assimilate the philosophical matrix of the idea of subsidiarity in which the values of the Judeo-Christian tradition, with centuries of European history, prevail, and cannot be forgotten.

Date of Award	15 Oct 2020
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Manuel Braga da Cruz (Supervisor)