A politics for human flourishing.

I argue that given the truth of an Aristotelian picture of human flourishing and the view that flourishing should be the aim of politics, a series of proposals should be adopted to promote more localized centers of social and economic life while still allowing for higher levels of political organization where it is beneficial. The unifying core of these proposals is that we can effectively adapt the liberal State’s way of regulating the relationship between individuals, which recognizes individual rights and responsibilities, and apply it instead to the relationship between local communities. Mine is not a liberal theory per se, but it learns from the liberal tradition and finds an Aristotelian justification for certain liberal institutions. I then show how this local-first model of governance may be used to promote human flourishing in the workplace, in education, and in other areas of life through responsible urban planning and use of technology.