freshmen's first principles, The

Policy Review, Nov/Dec 1996 by Radanovich, George

Writers have so confounded society with government as to leave little or no distinction between them." So wrote Thomas Paine in "Common Sense" in 1776. He could be writing today about those who look to government to solve all of America's problems.

The House GOP freshmen reject this view. We know that government is only a part of society. Society is not a part of government. Government serves as only a portion of the entire society, and is not the entire society.

Think of society as a chair. The legs of the chair represent four different and separate institutions. Government is just one leg; the others are families and the institutions that support them, religious and civic institutions, and business.

A stable chair frees you to sit, relax, eat, whatever you want to do, without worrying about falling on the floor. Similarly, the four institutions of society contribute equally to its stability. A child born into a society where all four institutions are healthy has the greatest opportunity for success in life. Consider the child's relationship to these four institutions: When family institutions are healthy, a child is more likely to learn respect for his parents. When government institutions are healthy, a child is more likely to obey the law. In healthy businesses, a child is more likely to learn the work ethic. In healthy religious institutions, a child is more likely to maintain a clear conscience before his or her God. With healthy and equal institutions, we can provide to every individual the freedom and security to pursue the promised opportunity for life, liberty, and happiness.

During the past 100 years, America's government has become disproportionately large in relation to the country's other institutions. The resuit has been a burdensome governmental structure involved in virtually every aspect of our lives. The fundamental principles of the New Deal and Great Society programs-the solving of social ills with governmental programs-has resulted in a chair so unstable that a single finger can tip it over. Of all the money spent by government, 70 percent is controlled at the federal level, while 30 percent is controlled at the state and local levels. The 537 elected officials in Washington have substituted their "wisdom" for the wisdom of the thousands of local elected officials in our communities. The growth of the governmental leg has drawn too much away from the other core institutions, reducing their effectiveness and creating instability in America.

Our families have been decimated over the last 30 years by divorce, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, juvenile crime, and failing educational institutions. Religious and civic institutions are not functioning to their full potential. In his article "Bowling Alone" for the Journal of Democracy, Harvard professor Robert Putnam documented the significant decline in "social capital" and in participation in the civic associations of "civil society." In the political arena, declining voter participation and the community's feelings of disempowerment are symptoms of the deterioration of these institutions. In the business realm, our current fascination with "downsizing," layoffs, and superheated stock markets is a result of unstable institutions. The political community is particularly concerned about job insecurity, which has probably exacerbated the decline of business as well as religious and civic institutions.

These concerns, I believe, prompted Americans to send a Republican-led Congress to Washington in November 1994. Our new Republican majority went about aggressively downsizing government. We acted on the promises of the Contract With America, like blockgranting programs to the 50 states. We set about reforming or eliminating the myriad federal welfare, job-training, and housing programs. We focused on deregulation and tax reform, trying to encourage the marketplace to shed government control. We even considered eliminating the Departments of Education, Commerce, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development.

Unfortunately, House Republicans failed to communicate a vision of America that included its other core institutions. We did not give enough thought to how families would react to the withdrawal of government from their lives. We did not articulate the need to re-create religious and civic institutions, or to develop selfregulation in the business realm. In short, we only looked at the institution we could influence directly: government. Until we can explain to the American people how we can rebuild the institutions of community while reducing government, then maybe we shouldn't be reducing government at all.

Through its disapproval of the government shutdowns in 1995 and 1996, the American people have told us, "We agree with downsizing government, but we're not going to let you do it unless you can show us how America will be a better place for everybody as a result." Thus the task we freshmen have set ourselves is to articulate our vision of the "New America."