Talk:Big government

Relativity of Term
What about the fact that "Big" and "Small" are relative terms - what you call small government, I call big government. Any government at all could always be smaller. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Matthew238 (talk • contribs) 01:26, 21 November 2006

Yes, what's considered big depends on one's perspective. Arguing against big government is tantamount to arguing that the government is too big. To call a four bedroom house a big house is to say that it's too big, though to someone with six bedrooms it might not seem big. They're perhaps not the most articulate words, but they portray meaning nonetheless.--Zachbe (talk) 13:46, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

There needs to be a more narrowed definition with supporting documentation or explanation of the broadness. Examples of use would help achieve this. For the against point of view it may be helpful to attack the vagueness. Discussing the actual size of the government compared to GDP and/or other Western countries will help with clarification. BrainYYZ (talk) 11:34, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

POV
This article is unreferenced, and seems to support a particular point of view. Anyone have any references or ways to fix this? /Blaxthos 22:24, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

—-Just like to add that my impression of this article is that it appears fact-free, extremely one-sided, biased and lacking references. It appears strongly right-leaning, and is opinion based (supported by its lack of references). I believe as it is now a “hot topic”, it is in urgent need of full editorial review. I am not qualified to provide such a review or would have offered to do so. I’m actually shocked by this article; it’s obvious bias is the worst example of one-sidedness I’ve ever encountered on Wikipedia. /[anonymous Australian reader, 09 Jan 2021.] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.245.109.102 (talk) 12:56, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

The article could track Big Government's rise in the 20th century. Some suggestions to include would be FDR's New Deal, Truman's Fair Deal, and LBJ's Great Society as major parts of it. You could even point to some of Nixon's expansions as well, but Tricky Dick didn't get that nickname for nothing. My understanding is that he expanded government, but guided it away from the liberal establishment. On the other side could be the Eisenhower administration's "hold the line" policy on ND/FD programs and Reagan's Counter-Revolution which was greatly influential to conservatives till the present day. Reagan argued that Big Government isn't the solution to the problem, Big Government is the problem. I agree that in its current state, the article is biased. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.206.185.134 (talk) 08:18, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * But didn't Reagan also expand Big Government? He engaged in military Keynesianism. 204.52.215.13 (talk) 00:05, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Are you serious?
Removed "Supporters of Big government argue that Big governments can get things done, particularly in the field of large public works projects. One example is Nazi Germany's Holocaust."

Or, I don't know, going to the moon? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.195.104.123 (talk) 18:40, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

The Holocaust was a public works project undertaken by the Nazi regime, and the Nazi government does come under the definition of Big Government. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.129.13.12 (talk) 12:43, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
 * The point of the objection is that it's a highly misleading and biased example. It's like saying "Spiders are dangerous. One example is a black widow." —MiguelMunoz (talk) 22:27, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

The "Supporters of Big government" phrase came back, so I rewrote the sentence to make it less biased. The phrase is intrinsically POV, creating a pejorative category with no rigorous definition, advancing a partisan political argument. Looking at the history, though, I note that edits are sometimes simply reverted without discussion, so the phrase may well return. --Desertpapa (talk) 22:59, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Now we have a mention of "…unconstitutionally involved in certain areas of public policy or the private sector," which is hardly a settled question. Americans may opine about the constitutionality of certain US Federal programs, but that's subject to debate, not plain fact. It's also America-centric. If "Big Government" may take place in other countries with other constitutions, can we really use that as a defining factor? Did the "big government" of the Soviet Union violate the Soviet Union's constitution? That's a POV description that has no place in this article. —MiguelMunoz (talk) 10:56, 29 September 2019 (UTC)

Big Business creates Big Gov
I think this should be added: from David Korten's "When Corporations Rule the World": "As Paul Hawken notes, it is the unwillingness of big business to accept the essential role of governmental regulation that creates the need for big government. Similarly, it is the interference of big business in governance that renders government ineffective...  The bigger our corporations, the greater their power to externalize costs and the greater the need for big government to protect the public interest and to clean up the consequent social and environmental issues." Stars4change (talk) 05:39, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Organization
(This is my first time editing on wiki, so help if I am doing something wrong)

The article seems to need some structure. Because the term is by it's nature biased, the only way is to explain both points of view. I think we will need to start making a list of arguments made for and against. Defining it as used by proponents without discussing the controversy is not complete. I suggest breaking it up into subjects (these are in question form):

What is Big Government? - What is the history of the term. Has it changed? - Who uses the term? What does it mean to them? (Usage examples from both sides) - Why is there controversy surrounding the term? What are the differing opinions?

- First Used - Changes in use, if any - Definition by proponents, usage, examples - Definition by opponents, usage, examples - Controversy

BrainYYZ (talk) 12:04, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Removed References
It is unclear to me how Unfunded mandate is "unhelpful" given that unfunded mandates are a common criticism of federalism, one which a simple search generates numerous examples. Likewise, the metaphor of Big Brother created by George Orwell as a symbol of an over-reaching government is an appropriate literary reference that gives insight into the nuance of "Big Government." Both are germane to the topic, and more central to understanding the term than references to a recent ban on sugary drinks for a municipality. 173.57.154.73 (talk) 02:01, 3 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your comment. (I have again reverted your addition.) The problem is not so much Big Brother or Unfunded mandate, but more related to sources. We need WP:SECONDARY sources that support and connect the ideas to the article. Big Brother really does not apply because it is George Orwell's novel. Please strife to made edits observing WP:NPOV. Thanks. – S. Rich (talk) 02:14, 3 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks S. Rich. For reference, please see the edit performed on 15:40, 19 October 2007‎ from 129.110.241.45 included here:
 * Big government can refer to any of a number of bureaucratic criticisms: government programs where policy goals could be accomplished with smaller more nimble organizations, attempts to federalize programs traditionally implemented at the state level, implementing programs that seek to accomplish functions normally associated with the private sector or private organizations (such as non-profit groups or religious organizations), expensive programs that are likely to increase significantly in costs in the long term, subject to cost overruns and poor cost analysis, resistant to reform efforts both internally and externally, large bureaucracies lacking in accountability, limited or no checks and balances on power within the organization, inadequate or inconsistent metrics to verify to efficacy, limited genuine benefits conferred to citizens, cost ineffective (benefits are outweighed by high costs), programs funded primarily by bond packages. A common example of big government is unfunded federal mandates, where federal programs and policy priorities are imposed upon states, requiring states to bear the financial burden without funding from the federal level.
 * Please advise on how the language referring to Unfunded mandate (which can now be cited as a Wikipedia article) in the above paragraph in particular is POV, while the remaining language remains in the article in a derivative form and not flagged POV. Thank you. 173.57.154.73 (talk) 05:56, 3 August 2013 (UTC)
 * You may misunderstand. We do not use Wikipedia as a source for citations. WP, itself, is not WP:RS. It is built from outside sources. The links allow readers to move from article to article, but each article should have its own sourcing. Thus we do not say "Unfunded mandates are related to big government because Wikipedia says they are related to big government." – S. Rich (talk) 06:02, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Dr. Winer's comment on this article
Dr. Winer has reviewed this Wikipedia page, and provided us with the following comments to improve its quality:

"The Growth of Government is a vast topic with a huge literature. This article just scratches the surface. See Mueller, Public Choice III, Cambridge University Press"

We hope Wikipedians on this talk page can take advantage of these comments and improve the quality of the article accordingly.

Dr. Winer has published scholarly research which seems to be relevant to this Wikipedia article:


 * Reference : J Stephen Ferris & Soo-Bin Park & Stanley L. Winer, 2006. "Political Competition and Convergence to Fundamentals: With Application to the Political Business Cycle and the Size of Government," CESifo Working Paper Series 1646, CESifo Group Munich.

ExpertIdeasBot (talk) 15:45, 24 June 2016 (UTC)

Origin of the Term
When was the term "big government" actually coined? I only started hearing it in the last two decades. It sounds like something coined by Ayn Rand or one of her followers, but that's just a guess. A brief mention of how the term was coined (and who coined it) would be a helpful addition. —MiguelMunoz (talk) 10:46, 29 September 2019 (UTC)