Unleashing or Harnessing “Armies of Compassion”?: Reflections on the Faith-Based Initiative
Unleashing or Harnessing “Armies of Compassion”?: Reflections on the Faith-Based Initiative
Linda C. McClain, 39 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 361 (2008)
Instead, my aim is to invite closer attention to the architectural framework of civil society and the state, and to the role of public-private partnerships in carrying out what I have elsewhere called a formative project of fostering self-government. Even seven years into the faith-based initiative, challenging questions remain about what, exactly, it means to put faith to work. Such questions deserve attention, given the institutionalization of the initiative through the establishment of a federal office, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Agency Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives within a dozen federal departments and agencies, and significant administrative initiatives in more than half the states. In addition, the unfolding presidential campaign for the 2008 election reveals varying degrees of support by both Republican and Democratic candidates for a continuation of the initiative.