Many claims are made about the excessive size and unnecessary growth of government, especially claims about its dramatic expansion in the post-World War II era. But how do we measure government size and growth? When speaking of the benefits or liabilities of big government, individuals may be referring to many different characteristics of the public sector, including the burden of taxes to support the public sector, the regulatory burden of government, the size of the public budget, the number of public sector employees, and the number of government programs and agencies ( Rose 1984; 1983). These many characteristics have all been used, at one time or another, as indicators of the underlying phenomenon of big government and its intrusiveness in our daily lives.
Publication information: Book title: Understanding United States Government Growth:An Empirical Analysis of the Postwar Era. Contributors: William D. Berry - Author, David Lowery - Author. Publisher: Praeger Publishers. Place of publication: New York. Publication year: 1987. Page number: 15.