How big should government be?

This depends on your views on what government should do for its citizens. In our society, from progressive to libertarian, the views vary widely. I would also answer by taking into account government at all levels, from federal down to the local level. Perhaps we can all agree that we need government for some things such as national security. What about infrastructure-building, such as roads, bridges, dams, and water systems? Many people also believe that the government is needed to watch the behavior of industry, to check water purity, to police the safety of products and food. At the more local level, we need police and fire protection. What about dealing with forest fires? How about protection of those in trouble, whether it be farmers affected by drought or poor people in need of food, housing or medical care. What about aid and re-building after natural disasters? Public education, at least through 12th grade can also be viewed as a government function. Then there are things like NASA and the national science foundation. People also forget about the protection of proprietary rights, which is a core need in a capitalist country, so we need a patent office and a way to register copyrights. government also provides the necessary court system to determine legal rights and to protect society. What about public lands? Besides national parks and landmarks, etc., there are millions of acres of publicly owned land that must be protected and managed. Then there are the programs that have been instituted largely to provide for the older members of society. not all people agree that they are legitimate government functions, but the Social Security and Medicare systems are accepted by most citizens as necessary to our society. I could go on, but you can see that government needs to be large to encompass all of these responsibilities (and more!). That does not exactly answer the question, but it provides a direction for further thinking about this.