Thomas Jefferson and Virtue of Limited Government

What we now call the principle of subsidiarity was deeply embedded in Jefferson’s anthropology of man as a free but social and moral creature. Subsidiarity is most identified as one of the four core principles of Catholic Social Teaching. It holds that entities (governments, authorities, etc.) of a higher order should not do for those of a lower order what they can do for themselves. Jefferson expressed this principle as rooted in God’s will that man be free.