ABSTRACT
In 1801, when Thomas Jefferson became president of the United States, the national government was simple, small and limited. The only executive departments were Treasury, War, Navy, State and Post Office. A century later, when Theodore Roosevelt became president, the set of executive departments had been enlarged to include also Interior, Justice and Agriculture. Still another century later, when George W. Bush became president, the set of departments had been enlarged much further to include also Commerce, Labor, Defense (in lieu of the longstanding War and Navy departments), Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education and Veterans Affairs. In addition, during the twentieth century a number of cabinet-level positions had been created for a variety of new administrative and regulatory agencies, such as the Office of Management and Budget, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Small Business Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.1 The state and local governments likewise have expanded their fiscal, administrative and regulatory activities enormously since the nation’s beginning, especially during the past century. As a result, very few areas of economic and social life now remain beyond the reach of government influence, management, or regulation and ‘private’ activities in general are subject to a great variety of such impact and control.
