Big Government Doesn’t Just Happen
By John Horvat II
There are many who complain that big government is the root of all our problems. If we could but rid ourselves of its intrusive presence in our lives, things would be much better. Many complain about the effects of big government but few look at its cause.
Big government does not just happen. In fact, big government, where the State enters into every facet of society, should not happen. The State exists to safeguard the general order which in turn allows the intermediary bodies of family, community and Faith to develop free from its control.
Moreover, most modern States are protected by constitutions which are supposed to restrain the powers and growth of government. But everywhere we look, we see that these limits have not been respected and ballooning bureaucracies thrive.
Obviously there are other factors at work that make big government possible. And if we are to resolve the problem of unrestrained big government, we must look for and address these causes.
The well-known conservative writer Russell Kirk makes a very interesting observation that gives us a clue as to what these causes are and how we might return to limited government.
Kirk writes: “beneath any formal constitution—even beneath our Constitution…lies an unwritten constitution much more difficult to define, but really more powerful.” This unwritten constitution consists of “the body of institutions, customs, manners, conventions, and voluntary associations which may not even be mentioned in the formal constitution, but which nevertheless form the fabric of social reality and sustain the formal constitution.”[i]
In other words, we as a people have lost that vital link with the customs, manners, conventions and virtues that serve as a foundation for our Constitution. We have severed ourselves from our Christian roots, the natural institutions of family and community and the common law tradition that normally and naturally serve to temper and limit government.
It is this destruction of moral values, institutions and customs that makes big government possible. Without this “unwritten constitution,” a void is left, which allows big government to come charging in. We start losing our freedoms.
It used to be, for example, that families took care of their own. However, when the institution of the family was devastated by the sexual revolution of the sixties, it created a real problem of broken families and prepared the way for a false solution in the form of big government that rushed to fill the void and assumed responsibilities that did not belong to it.
Obviously there are other factors at work that make big government possible. And if we are to resolve the problem of unrestrained big government, we must look for and address these causes.
The well-known conservative writer Russell Kirk makes a very interesting observation that gives us a clue as to what these causes are and how we might return to limited government.
Kirk writes: “beneath any formal constitution—even beneath our Constitution…lies an unwritten constitution much more difficult to define, but really more powerful.” This unwritten constitution consists of “the body of institutions, customs, manners, conventions, and voluntary associations which may not even be mentioned in the formal constitution, but which nevertheless form the fabric of social reality and sustain the formal constitution.”[i]
In other words, we as a people have lost that vital link with the customs, manners, conventions and virtues that serve as a foundation for our Constitution. We have severed ourselves from our Christian roots, the natural institutions of family and community and the common law tradition that normally and naturally serve to temper and limit government.
It is this destruction of moral values, institutions and customs that makes big government possible. Without this “unwritten constitution,” a void is left, which allows big government to come charging in. We start losing our freedoms.
It used to be, for example, that families took care of their own. However, when the institution of the family was devastated by the sexual revolution of the sixties, it created a real problem of broken families and prepared the way for a false solution in the form of big government that rushed to fill the void and assumed responsibilities that did not belong to it.
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