First things first, the term big government, Crystal Clanton thinks it is a political term which is used to describe a type of government which is relatively large and which holds a huge level of influence over public policy as well as the public sector itself.
If you’re fascinated about how a big government can impact on its citizens, simply continue reading to discover everything you need to know about big governments.
What is Big Government?
1. The term big government can be used to describe socially conservative governments
The tern big government is often used to describe governments which are by international standards, rather conservative.
As an example, the US can be argued to be a prime example of a big government as compared to many other western nations the US still has rather conservative laws about abortion, gun control and the funding of public healthcare.
Another example of a government, which could be called a big government, is China’s government which is extremely conservative as Chinese citizens are not allowed to vote for a leader in an election and instead are stuck with the leader which they’re given
On the flip-side, countries which are seen as having rather liberal governments, such as Australia, Denmark and New Zealand are often referred to as small governments.
2. Often the term big government is used to describe governments which boast numerous government sectors and which employee a large number of employees
The size of governments around the world can vary greatly, big governments often boast so many employees, that it’s extremely difficult to get new laws and legislation passed due to amount of bureaucracy, which gets in the way of decisions being made.
Generally speaking the more employees a government employs, the longer it will take for the government in question to be able to pass and implement new legislation and laws.
However, there is also a danger in a government hiring too few employees and then struggling to provide enough diverse view points on each issue which the government needs to face.
3. Big governments often tax citizens a higher amount of income tax and sales tax than smaller governments
Generally big governments are forced to tax their citizens higher rates of tax in order to pay for all of their government employees, including pen pushers who have no authority to make any important decisions and instead are employed simply to make up the numbers for their political party.
4. Big governments often try to get heavily involved in the public sector
Most big governments try to get heavily involved in the public sector by buying out private businesses or by implementing new regulations, which ensure that the government, retains a high level of control and influence over a vast percentage of public businesses. Which is unhealthy as for freedom to exist in a country, the public sector needs to be separate from the government.
If you woke up not knowing the key differences between big governments and small governments, hopefully you now have a solid understanding on the main differences between the two vastly different styles of government. Both of which offer distinct advantages and disadvantages.