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The growth of government is arguably the most important political phenomenon in the development of modern Britain. Originally published in 1979, this book relates changing ideas about what the state should do to what government has come to do and relates them all to the machinery available. The book covers the period from 1780 to the late twentieth century. This illuminating analysis considers the ideas of economists and political philosophers that have been an important influence in creating the climate of opinion about what the role of the State should be. This book was unique in covering the period from Adam Smith to Keynes as a whole, and studying it from this perspective.

The book also examines the development of the machinery of government in Britain over the past 200 years in relation to its functions and against the background of the preceding consideration of changing ideas about the role of the state. The 'traditional' functions of government (such as law and order, defence, conduct of foreign policy and imperial management) are examined fully, as they can be seen as a base line from which to measure change. Most attention is given to the machinery and functions of government in relation to the economy and social provision, because these are the main areas of controversy about the role of the state, and where changes in that role have been most marked.