Big government is a term that refers to a
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
or
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...
that is considered excessively large or unconstitutionally involved in certain areas of
public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...
or the
private sector
The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government.
Employment
The private sector employs most of the workfo ...
.
The term may also be used specifically concerning government policies that attempt to regulate private or personal matters such as private
sexual behavior or individual
food choices – similar to the British term '
nanny state'. The term has also been used in the context of the United States to define a dominant
federal government
A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
that seeks to control the authority of local
institution
An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...
s – an example being the overriding of state authority in favor of federal
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...
.
Definition
Big government is primarily defined by its size, measured by the budget or number of employees, either in absolute terms or relative to the national economy.
See also
*
Corporate welfare
Corporate welfare refers to government financial assistance, Subsidy, subsidies, tax breaks, or other favorable policies provided to private businesses or specific industries, ostensibly to promote economic growth, job creation, or other public b ...
*
Limited government
*
Lemon socialism
*
Managerial state
*
Night-watchman state
*
Small government
*
Social engineering (political science)
*
Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor
*
Statism
In political science, statism or etatism (from French, ''état'' 'state') is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation ...
*
Too big to fail
"Too big to fail" (TBTF) is a theory in banking and finance that asserts that certain corporations, particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected with an economy that their failure would be disastrous to the greater e ...
*
Welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...
References
Libertarian terms
Political ideologies
Political neologisms
Political terminology of the United States
Political pejoratives
Conservatism in the United States
Right-wing politics in the United States
{{Gov-stub