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Unleashing Or Harnessing 'Armies Of Compassion'?: Reflections On The Faith-Based Initiative, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

A central tenet of President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative, launched in 2001, is that the federal government, by entering into more partnerships with religious and community organizations, should put the power of faith to work to solve pressing social problems. Proponents of the initiative have invoked the eighteenth-century French writer Alexis de Tocqueville's famous observations about the American propensity to join various voluntary associations as well as the Catholic principle of subsidiarity. Seven years into the faith-based initiative, challenging questions remain about what, exactly, it means to put faith to work. Such questions deserve attention, given the institutionalization of …