The hypothesis of this article is that the changing role of the state can best be explained in terms of the growth of government. The growth of the state and its importance in Western society can be measured in the following areas: (1) growth of government agencies; (2) growth of state officials; (3) growth of taxation and the state's share of the national product; (4) growth of legislation and programs; (5) growth of government control over the economy. These aspects are reviewed and analyzed. Proceeding from the observation that even in those fields where the state is growing, the problems grow faster than the agencies that should tackle them, two basic strategies are recommended for the predicaments of Western democracy: fighting rising expectations to reduce overloads of the state and ungovernability; and creating new expectations via mobilization of new productive forces.
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