Editing Distributism (section)

{{Short description|Economic theory promoting local control}}
{{redirect|Distributivism|the algebraic concept|Distributivity}}
{{Multiple issues|{{Original research|date=March 2021}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2021}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{economic systems sidebar|expanded=by ideology}}
{{Christian democracy sidebar|expanded=Ideas}}
{{social teachings of the popes}}
{{basic forms of government}}
'''Distributism''' is an [[economic theory]] asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated.<ref name=Zwick/> Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon [[Catholic social teaching]] principles, especially those of [[Pope Leo XIII]] in his [[encyclical]] ''[[Rerum novarum]]'' (1891) and [[Pope Pius XI]] in ''[[Quadragesimo anno]]'' (1931).<ref>Coulter, Michael (2007). ''Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science and Social Policy''. [[Scarecrow Press]]. p. 85. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-5906-7}}</ref><ref>McConkey, Dale; Lawler, Peter (2003). ''Faith, Morality, and Civil Society''. [[Lexington Books]]. p. 50. {{ISBN|978-0-7391-0483-5}}</ref><ref>[[Patrick Allitt|Allitt, Patrick]] (2000). ''Catholic Converts: British and American Intellectuals Turn to Rome''. [[Cornell University Press]]. p. 206. {{ISBN|978-0-8014-8663-0}}</ref> It has influenced Anglo [[Christian Democratic]] movements,<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Caldecott |first=Stratford |date=1991 |title=Distributism and Christian Democracy |url=https://www.pdcnet.org/chesterton/content/chesterton_1991_0017_0001_0141_0142 |journal=The Chesterton Review |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=141–142|doi=10.5840/chesterton199117151 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and has been recognized as one of many influences on the [[social market economy]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Belloc |first=Hillarie |title=Standard Texts on the Social Market Economy: Two Centuries of Discussion |publisher=Ludwif-Ehard-Stiftung |year=1982 |editor-last=Wünsche |editor-first=Horst Friedrich |pages=331–334 |chapter=The Restoration of Property |editor-last2=Stützel |editor-first2=Wolfgang |editor-last3=Watrin |editor-first3=Christian |editor-last4=Willgerodt |editor-first4=Hans |editor-last5=Hohmann |editor-first5=Karl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Corrin |first=Jay P. |date=1988 |title=The Neo-Distributism of Friedrich A. Hayek and Wilhelm Röpke |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_thought_1988-12_63_251/page/396/mode/2up |journal=Thought |volume=63 |issue=251 |pages=397–412|doi=10.5840/thought198863429 }}</ref>

Distributism views ''[[laissez-faire]]'' [[capitalism]] and [[state socialism]] as equally flawed and exploitative, due to their extreme concentration of ownership. Instead, it favours small independent craftsmen and producers; or, if that is not possible, economic mechanisms such as [[cooperative]]s and member-owned [[mutual organization|mutual organisation]]s, as well as [[Small and medium-sized enterprises|small to medium enterprises]] and vigorous [[competition law|anti-trust laws]] to restrain or eliminate overweening economic power. [[Christian democratic]] political parties such as the [[American Solidarity Party]] have advocated distributism alongside [[social market economy]] in their economic policies and party platform.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://solidarity-party.org/about-us/platform/#Economics|title=Platform|publisher=American Solidarity Party|access-date=14 October 2020|quote=The American Solidarity Party believes that political economy (economics) is a branch of political ethics, and therefore rejects models of economic behavior that undermine human dignity with greed and naked self-interest. We advocate for an economic system which focuses on creating a society of wide-spread ownership (sometimes referred to as 'distributism') rather than having the effect of degrading the human person as a cog in the machine.|archive-date=10 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610024059/https://solidarity-party.org/about-us/platform/#Economics|url-status=dead}}</ref>