Over-centralization
No over-centralization for future peace; U.S. example of future government with each province independent but with a federal union; exigency of time to avoid centralization[edit]
"Question: Is it not a fact that universal peace cannot be accomplished until there is political democracy in all the countries of the world?
"Answer: It is very evident that in the future there shall be no centralization in the countries of the world, be they constitutional in government, republican or democratic in form. The United States may be held up as the example of future government--that is to say, each province will be independent in itself, but there will be federal union protecting the interests of the various independent states. It may not be a republican or a democratic form. To cast aside centralization which promotes despotism is the exigency of the time. This will be productive of international peace..."
'Abdu'l-Bahá foreshadowed the movement of decentralization of political power which would be set in motion[edit]
"He ['Abdu'l-Bahá], moreover, predicted, in the course of these travels, the radical changes which would take place in that continent [Europe], foreshadowed the movement of the decentralization of political power which would inevitably be set in motion..."
- (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 282)
The purpose of the world-wide Law of Bahá'u'lláh is not to abolish national autonomy (essential to avoid the evils of excessive centralization)[edit]
"Let there be no misgivings as to the animating purpose of the world-wide Law of Bahá'u'lláh. Far from aiming at the subversion of the existing foundations of society, it seeks to broaden its basis, to remold its institutions in a manner consonant with the needs of an ever-changing world. It can conflict with no legitimate allegiances, nor can it undermine essential loyalties. Its purpose is neither to stifle the flame of a sane and intelligent patriotism in men's hearts, nor to abolish the system of national autonomy so essential if the evils of excessive centralization are to be avoided. It does not ignore, nor does it attempt to suppress, the diversity of ethnical origins, of climate, of history, of language and tradition, of thought and habit, that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world. It calls for a wider loyalty, for a larger aspiration than any that has animated the human race. It insists upon the subordination of national impulses and interests to the imperative claims of a unified world. It repudiates excessive centralization on one hand, and disclaims all attempts at uniformity on the other. Its watchword is unity in diversity such as `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself has explained..."
- (Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 41-42)
New structures for global governance must ensure responsibility for decision-making remains at appropriate levels[edit]
"Some fear that international political institutions inevitably evolve toward excessive centralization and constitute an unwarranted layer of bureaucracy. It needs to be explicitly and forcefully stated that any new structures for global governance must, as a matter of both principle and practicality, ensure that the responsibility for decision-making remains at appropriate levels.[8]"
"[8] Two commonly used maxims illustrate this principle. "Small is beautiful," a maxim coined in the early '70s as an economic principle, applies equally to governance. Schumacher explains: "In the affairs of men, there always appears to be a need for at least two things simultaneously, which, on the face of it, seem to be incompatible and to exclude one another. We always need both freedom and order. We need the freedom of lots and lots of small, autonomous unities, and, at the same time, the orderliness of large-scale, possibly global, unity and coordination." "E. F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. (New York: Harper and Row, 1973.) p. 65. ""Think globally, act locally," a slogan promoted by environmental and community development activists, captures a perspective in which the need for overall global coordination is carefully balanced against the need for local and national autonomy."
