Subsidiarity and the Proper Role of Government

What is subsidiarity? I think that the definition of subsidiarity is the idea that matters or problems should be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized capable authority. Also political decisions should be taken at a local level if at all possible, rather than by a central authority. I think that the ultimate idea behind subsidiarity is allowing the people feel like they aren't being controlled and that they have a say in how things are handled. 

Devolution is the delegation of power and programs from the federal to state and local governments. The concept of subsidiarity is similar to this concept because they both are aimed to give equal control or fairly equal to the different types of government. In the CST handout it states that "the rule of thumb laid out in the Catholic social teaching is to rely as much as possible on those solutions that are closest to the people affected and that employ the smallest groupings and mechanisms that are still effective" (CST, 89). Basically the local government should handle things within their communities because they are closer to their citizens and they would know them more than the state government. If the local government cannot handle the problem then that is when the state should step in. The concept of devolution supports the idea of subsidiarity.