Introduction The difference in the U.
S. Government at it’s founding vrstoday in reference, to the idea of small vrs big government. The Governmentoriginally had only concern with the Military, tariffs and all forms ofForeign relationsToday the government regulates all aspects of a persons life. Tax,theredistributation of wealth,healthcare and have a strong influence on localgovernments through the withholding funds.
Competing InterestInconsistencies in Government polices can be attributed to differences inthe many different public Popular Majority will not remain stable for long,since no one can please everyone people will shift their support. Manydifferent interest contained within a majorityPolitical Promises must be made in order to bring together a PopularMajority. If a politician breaks these promises he risks losing futurevotes. Restraints on Growth of Government Reasons for the first 150 yearsof U.
S. government remaining small. The constitution was read under astrict interpretation, stopping the government from regulating business andleaving an income tax. Independent agencies were not given power,due to theSupreme court not allowing it. Prevailing interest of the time did not welcome the Federalgovernments intervention in such places as commerce and labor relations.
Amendments allowed congress to raise taxes and opened up a wide range ofnew legislation. The Great Depression and it’s “New Deal” created many newsystems that were completely new at the time such as Social Security,Unemployment insurance, and Bureaucracies to run these systems werecreated. The Framers intended for Small Government through the system ofchecks and balances,making it hard for the government from doing too much. Large Government is entrenched because many people want it and it would bevery difficult to trim back the Government.
Reagan tried to and failed. Hefailed because any part of Government once created has many supporters. Consequences of Activist Government Staff grows just to keep up withcurrent ramifications of Legislation and have less time to deal with newideas Bureaucratization of all aspects occur due to the Large amount ofthings to deal with. Staff and agencies get more influence in government astheir roles increase.
The Office of Management and Budget and the NationalSecurity Council gain Power through the expansion of Power. The bigger theGovernment is the more it will act inconsistent,different goals and lack ofcommunication cause this. The activist Government is less in the control of the Electorate. Whenthe Government did little policies were based more on the next electionthan they are now.
Today there is more of a blur of what our electedofficials do which causes apathy among voters. The Activist Government bytrying to do more gets blamed for everything. From crime to the price ofGas, its the Governments fault for everything. By trying to regulate moreit gains the blame for things that it does not cause.
The Influence ofStructure It gives local Governments and people more rights and power. Ananalogy is set up between our semi- decentralized government and that ofBritain. It states that if the U. S.
was under the British parliamentarysystem people would have little legal recourse against a law,taxes would behigher ,scandals would not come out,and policies would change rapidly withchanges in the Majority. The influence of Ideas Though the Government isgrowing it is not becoming the “Big Brother” Of Orwell’s “1984” solely bythe ever increasing concept of “Rights” or Civil liberties. The courts ofthe U. S. are the most heavily trafficked in the world. The government hasto abide by these right like a set of rules.
The right to Privacy act,theFreedom of information act and Administrative Procedure Act all restrictwhat the Government can do. SummeryThe Idea of Large Government is no longer a question,but how to makeit run more efficiently or even more consistently is a good one. The sizeof government will continue to expand unless,some simplification can takeplace. The bigger the Government gets the more people expect out of it,andthe less certain they are about getting it.
