For a recent “Room for Debate” discussion, the New York Times asked four experts, “Are Charities More Effective Than Government?” The various perspectives are well worth reading.

But it is a crazy question, anyway. Obviously some charities are more effective than others and some government programs are run well but others dreadfully. And clearly the government can do some things that charities just cannot: a charity might do a great job helping a woman who has been abandoned by her husband find work that can sustain her and her child, but even the best charity will not be able to compel her unfaithful husband to pay child support.

But at least this was a public policy discussion that included charities–that is, civil society! That’s a big improvement over the just-past and unlamented presidential election campaign, where one side pretended that only the economy and individuals are important (remember: jobs, jobs, jobs) and the other side pretended that only the government and individuals are important (remember that “Julia” clip). Even combining those two partial perspectives gets us only to the thin and inaccurate trio: individuals, the market, and government.

But we all count on much more than that, including families, faith-based and secular poverty-fighting groups, cultural institutions, houses of worship, rescue missions, food banks, broadcast stations and magazines, schools, think tanks and advocacy organizations.

Both the Catholic (“subsidiarity”) and Dutch Calvinist (“sphere sovereignty”) social-teaching traditions have a lot to say about that variety of non-government, non-market institutions, and how they should be related to each other, to individuals, to the market, and to government. One great resource is Christianity and Civil Society: Catholic and Neo-Calvinist Perspectives, ed. Jeanne Heffernan Schindler (Lexington Books, 2008).

For a recent thought-provoking discussion of some of this complexity and why civil society can’t be ignored in any worthwhile conversation about the common good of our society, go to the webpage for the recent event, “Civil Society and the Future of Conservatism,” held at the Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal at the Hudson Institute. The page has a link to video and audio of the event and promises a transcript soon.