Governance for Human Social Flourishing

Abstract

Government has become something that happens to us in service of the economy rather than a vehicle driven by us to realize what we can achieve together. To save the planet and live meaningful lives, we need to start seeing one another not as com-petitors but as collaborators working toward shared interests. In this essay, I pro-pose a framework for human social flourishing to foster a public policy that rebuilds our connections and care for one another. It is based on four pillars–dignity, com-munity, beauty, and sustainability–and emphasizes not just inclusiveness but par-ticipation, and highlights the importance of policy-making at the local level in the rebuilding of prosocial norms.