reasons for 'big' government

• Westward expansion


  Settlement spread westwards, not 13 colonies clustered along the Atlantic coast anymore
• The growth of population

  Population grew from just under 4 million in 1790 to 76 million by 1900 and 322 million by 2016

  Growing nation required management by a growing government
• Industrialisation

  Brought the need for government regulation -> federal executive Department of Commerce and Labour was formed in 1903 before being split into 2 departments 10 years later
• Improvements in communication

  Roads, aircraft and railway opened up the nation

  Radio and television brought instant communication and a feeling of national identity
• The Great Depression

  Hit the USA in 1929 and the states looked to the government to cure their ills

  • The state governments did not possess the resources to reverse the huge levels of unemployment, launch vast public works schemes or rescue agriculture
  • Roosevelet’s ‘New Deal’ helped get the USA back to work -> ambitious schemes to build roads, schools, and provide hydroelectric power
• Foreign policy

  With the onset of WWII, the USA stepped out as a superpower and the federal government with exclusive jurisdiction over foreign policy - found its role enhanced significantly
• Supreme Court


  Political changes occurred to alter the federal-state relationship

  Decisions especially made between 1937 and the 1970s, enhanced the power of the federal government through their interpretation of implied powers especially the “necessary and proper” clause, the “defence and general welfare” clause and the commerce clause
• Supreme Court

  From the mid-1980s under Justice Rehnquist and Roberts, the Court has taken a much more restrictive view of these clauses, limiting the role of Congress and the federal government
• Constitutional amendments

  The 14th amendment in 1866 changed dramatically the relationship between the federal government and the states -> the Constitution had been amended for the first time to impose prohibitions on state governments