Civitas Humana: Wilhelm Roepke's Reform Proposals for a Humane Society

Abstract

Wilhelm Roepke wrote his book Civitas Humana in the early 1940s in order to elaborate economic and social policy guidelines for postwar reconstruction in Europe. Rejecting both central economic planning (collectivism) and laissez‐faire, he looks for a third alternative. He finds it in a socially‐oriented market economy based on decentralisation, designed to provide citizens with roots in their communities and families. Roepke calls for a genuine competitive order with the government setting the general framework and also interfering in the market process itself to prevent monopolies and facilitate economic adjustments. He advocates a policy of encouraging the private ownership of homes and small plots. With such an “anchor of property”, people would be able to withstand the inevitable hardships resulting from economic change.

Citation

Tamedly Lenches, E. (1990), "Civitas Humana: Wilhelm Roepke's Reform Proposals for a Humane Society", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 5-26. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068299010001047