Yes
It's Back—'and a Good Thing, Too'

By William E. Leuchtenburg

"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." For a generation, those words of Ronald Reagan in his first inaugural address in 1981 have been the mantra not only of Republican policymakers, but also of Democrats. Reagan's predecessor, Jimmy Carter, who fostered deregulation, anticipated him in saying, "Government cannot eliminate poverty or provide a bountiful economy or reduce inflation or save our cities or cure illiteracy or provide energy." Bill Clinton conceded, "The era of big government is over."

In an instant, Sept. 11 made these statements the rhetoric of yesteryear. Instinctively, George W. Bush, who had campaigned on a pledge to shrink government, created the Office of Homeland Security and pledged sums for defense that threatened to break the budget. In Congress, leaders of both parties promised they would spend whatever it took to defeat the terrorists. Overnight, privatizing airport security appeared ridiculous, and the Senate voted to assign that grave responsibility to a federal force. "The idea…that government didn't matter," said Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria, "seems almost absurd in the light of last week's event."

Big Government is back—and a good thing, too. Just think of what federal action has given us: the abolition of slavery, Social Security, the Federal Reserve System, maternal and child care, the eradication of the scourge of child labor, civil rights legislation to end apartheid, Medicare, pure food and drugs laws, land grant universities, wildlife refuges, safeguards for the handicapped, New Deal arts projects, minimum wage standards and national parks from Yosemite to Acadia.

In unpredictable ways, wars are catalysts of change. World War I gave us daylight saving time and women's suffrage; World War II, the withholding tax, penicillin and the GI Bill of Rights. The war against terrorism, certain to be a prolonged one, is already having an impact. Approval ratings for Congress are now at the highest levels ever recorded. Osama bin Laden never intended this, but one important consequence of his merciless attacks is a restored faith in government that is likely to be with us for a long time to come.

William E. Leuchtenburg, professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is the author of "In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to George W. Bush."

No
'The Beast is Dead'—and That's Fine

By Bruce S. Thornton

To some pundits, the current crisis has refuted the arguments against big government, which they now think is emerging Lazarus-like from its conservative tomb. But their celebration is premature and results from a misunderstanding of the case against the "nanny" state.

In fact, the one function of the federal government conceded even by those who want to reduce its scope is the provision for the common defense and the management of crises. Of course, in times of attack the federal government must take the lead and marshal the resources needed to defend the nation. No one expects the states or counties to raise armies to fight overseas.

But it is fallacious to think that just because the federal government is the best institution for defense or responding to a crisis, it is also the best institution for managing our lives or the economy. The government's dismal record of a dysfunctional welfare system, overzealous environmental regulation, intrusions into family life and education and micromanagement of hiring and firing offers compelling evidence that increasing its power decreases our freedom and autonomy.

It is a truism that bureaucratic institutions metastasize relentlessly unless the supply of money is choked off. Such organizations quickly forget the functions for which they were created and instead make their priority the expansion of their power and influence. Look no further than the education industry, where infusions of state and federal money have created a bloated, inefficient monster that cannot even teach the basic skills that societies have taught their children for centuries.

More important, people have finally realized that big government runs counter to the ideals upon which this republic was founded. Making people free means making them responsible for their own lives and mistakes. The autonomy of the individual is our most precious political ideal, one that should never be compromised no matter how attractive the utopian boons that supposedly will follow the abandonment of that autonomy.

So don't believe the rhetoric that is trying to galvanize the corpse of big government. The beast is dead, and let us hope it stays dead.

Bruce S. Thornton, professor of classics and humanities, California State University, Fresno, is the author of "Greek Ways" and co-author of "Bonfire of the Humanities."