On April 22, AEI and the Ethics & Public Policy Center hosted a discussion on the legacy of Richard John Neuhaus and Peter L. Berger’s 1977 book, To Empower People: From State to Civil Society. The book explored the importance of “mediating institutions” such as family, church, and community to a healthy social fabric.

AEI’s Scott Winship argued that public policy has consistently undermined mediating institutions in the years since the book’s publication. The Ethics & Public Policy Center’s Patrick T. Brown explored how people can be convinced to engage with civil society in an atomized age in which Americans are increasingly withdrawing into virtual spaces. Panelists noted the significance of this challenge, but the Catholic University of America’s Catherine Ruth Pakaluk observed that civil society’s value can be taught in the public education system.

The second panel discussed the relationship between mediating structures and the culture war. AEI’s Karlyn Bowman and the Morningside Institute’s Nathaniel Peters examined religion’s role in civil society and how it should be protected. Dakota State University’s Joseph Bottum concluded the event by analyzing the influence of the tumultuous political situation of the 1970s on Rev. Neuhaus and Dr. Berger’s work.

—Guy Denton

Event Description

In 1977, Richard John Neuhaus and Peter L. Berger published To Empower People: From State to Civil Society. The book explored the importance of mediating institutions such as family, church, and community to a healthy civil society. It warned that neglecting such institutions could spell disaster for American society.

Join scholars from AEI, the Ethics & Public Policy Center, and other institutions as they discuss where Rev. Neuhaus and Dr. Berger’s project stands today. Experts will explore the legacy of To Empower People and how the authors’ insights can be applied to cultural challenges in contemporary American life.