The Rise of Big Government chronicles the phenomenal growth of local, state, and federal government over the last 100 years. The authors explain this growth by arguing that public and social acceptance of government intervention has allowed government to maintain a presence at all levels of the economy. The authors take issue with the opposing argument that government has grown by itself and by the bureaucracy's constant push for its own expansion.

John F. Walker, Harold G. Vatter

Chapter 1 The Erosion of Laissez-Faire; Chapter 2 The Beginnings of the Mixed Economy, 1930-46; Chapter 3 The Postwar Economy and Government Growth; Chapter 4 Fiscal Policy and Government Growth; Chapter 5 The Rise of the American Welfare State; Chapter 6 International Influences and the Expanding American Role; Chapter 7 Why Government Must Continue to Grow;