Even as both major political parties commit themselves to ambitious programs of spending, shaping society through legislation, and punishing anybody who looks at them cross-eyed, the American people continue to believe the government is too powerful and does too much.
The catch is that people are most committed to smaller, restrained government when their favored party is out of power. That may be because they think their preferred policies are so wonderful that anything justifies their implementation, but the evidence suggests that it's really hatred of opponents throwing not only commitment to smaller government, but even liberal-democratic norms, out the window.
