The common good

March 20, 2026

Commendable as it is, the ‘ common good’ has a poor history in democratic institutions, the strength of which depends on vigorous debate designed to take policy battles off the street. Common good inclinations, encouraging collaborative initiatives described as corporatist, often miss out on this realisation as opponents strive towards agreement around the centre. Catholic political parties, following ‘Quadragesimo Anno’, were ‘common good’ entities, which classically failed to address complex social problems facing global polities at the time. In the US, Congress agreed to an unprecedented suspension of the Constitution to enable President Roosevelt to push through his much-needed New Deal. Thus, the anti-democratic effects of common good politics have become an unfortunate accoutrement of political initiatives that are fundamentally opposed to social aspects of libertarianism that are intrinsically a part of neoliberalism. When the Nazis were elected to power, they soon disbanded all political parties, while the corporatist policies of Mussolini, Franco & Salazar were achieved through military coups rather than democratic elections. Here in Australia, our most prominent common good promoter, Bob Santamaria, initially an immense favourite of Catholics, came to political grief because of his hatred of social liberalism. Much as I like it, it’s not for me!