Looking at the Anglosphere Part One - Page 3

In the nations that form Anglosphere, Bennett notes, “Market economy is more than the absence of socialism. It is more than the absence of interventionist government; it is the economic expression of a strong civil society, just as substantive democracy is the political expression of a civil society and civic state.” While there is no rule that democracy and market economy need to exist side by side but they often do. What matters is a civic society and understanding that government is but one player in society and part of a greater society. Religion, private charities, and corporations of varied sizes as well as political parties are all players in society that interact with one another. A strong civic society sees individuals creating and working in a variety of enterprises.

For the Anglosphere nations, strong civic societies had their roots in the medieval Europe. In Medieval England, the modern day society was built upon mix of “tribal, feudal, local, church family and state institutions” and the lack of a single overwhelming power capable of dominating. From the Magna Carta, English princes and barons made it clear to the royal crown that they had rights and this ideal became rooted in English custom and eventually making it way across the Atlantic. When civic society is strong, government can be limited to specific duties since welfare can be provided through private aid as well as public aid.

The weakness of the non-English speaking nations is not the lack of creativity on the part of their people but the political institutions in place retards growth. Even in the old Europe such as France and Germany, entrepreneurial spirit is frustrated by bureaucratic inertia. And as Mr. Bennett notes, “It is likely that the Anglosphere will continue to pull away from Continental Europe and Japan.”

The Rule of Law and Anglosphere

“l’Angleterre en effet est insulaire, maritime, liee par ses echanges, ses marches, son ravitaillement, aux pays les plus divers et sovent les plus lointains. (England is indeed insular, maritime, and tied by its exchanges, its markets, its supply with the most diverse and often most remote countries.)-
Charles DeGaulle, vetoing British membership in the Common Market, January 14, 1963.

The American Constitution is a document whose existence is rooted in a wider constitutional tradition derived from Britain. From the Middle Ages to the present, there is a continuity and stability that under girds the Anglosphere. James Bennett observes that a business lawyer in New York would recognize the common law code of Australia or England. The lawyer would know the problems while dealing with any issues across the Pacific or Atlantic in a fellow Anglosphere nation.

Article Author: Tom Donelson

Visit Tom Donelson's author page — Tom Donelson's Blog