Conservatives and the State

Deep distrust of the state has always been a key component of American conservatism, and indeed American exceptionalism. But, as Francis Fukuyama points out in his column on conservatism in the US, the Right has taken this notional idea to a dangerous extreme. All too often, their vision of the ideal future confuses limited government with weak government. The problem with libertarians is that they are terribly concerned with the dangers of big government, but not at all concerned about the dangers of big business. Their ideological aversion to the very concept of government, if actually instituted, would probably help them see that the state is necessary but, admittedly, in need of reform:

Private sector companies have undergone huge changes in recent decades, flattening managerial hierarchies, upgrading workforce skills and experimenting ceaselessly with new organizational forms. American government, by contrast, seems trapped in a late 19th-century bureaucratic model of rules and hierarchy. 

It needs to be smaller but also stronger and more effective. And this will not happen unless people see public service as a calling, rather than a despised occupation for people unable to make it in the private sector. In this regard, conservatives have an advantage because they can call people to public duty on the basis of the American nation rather than abstract ideals.