The Road to Serfdom: Why Expanding Government Power Always Leads to Tyranny

The expansion of government power is almost always framed as a necessary step for the public good—whether to ensure economic stability, protect vulnerable communities, or respond to crises. Yet history has repeatedly shown that as the state grows, individual liberty erodes. What starts as a well-intentioned effort to promote security or equality inevitably morphs into an apparatus of control—one that limits personal autonomy, stifles dissent, and consolidates authority into the hands of an unaccountable few.

From Aristotle to Friedrich Hayek, political philosophers have warned against the dangers of an all-powerful state. Today, in the United States, we are watching their predictions unfold in real-time as government intervention reaches unprecedented levels. The unchecked rise of the regulatory state, the increasing authoritarianism of unelected bureaucracies, and the erosion of constitutional constraints all point to the reality that we are moving away from a free society and toward centralized control.

The Case Against Expanding Government Power

Concerns over government overreach are not new—they have been the subject of political thought for centuries. Aristotle argued that the best form of government balances power among institutions to prevent tyranny, warning that unchecked authority inevitably leads to oppression. The Roman historian Tacitus observed that “the more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws,” recognizing that overregulation often masks the decline of genuine freedom.

Enlightenment thinkers such as Montesquieu and John Locke reinforced these principles, advocating for the separation of powers and limited government as safeguards against despotism. Locke, whose work profoundly influenced America’s Founders, made it clear that the role of government is to protect individual rights—not to micromanage the lives of citizens.

But perhaps no thinker has been more prescient about the dangers of state expansion than Friedrich Hayek. Writing in The Road to Serfdom in the aftermath of World War II, Hayek warned that collectivist policies, no matter how well-intentioned, always lead to centralized control, economic inefficiency, and, ultimately, authoritarian rule. His argument was simple: the more control the state has over economic and social life, the less freedom individuals have to make their own choices. Today, under the pretext of addressing crises—whether economic, environmental, or ideological—governments across the West are embracing the very policies Hayek warned would lead to tyranny.

The Rise of the American Administrative State

While the U.S. Constitution was explicitly designed to limit government power, those limits have been steadily eroded by the unchecked growth of the administrative state. The Founders envisioned a system in which elected representatives—not unelected bureaucrats—would be responsible for making laws. Yet today, federal agencies wield legislative, executive, and judicial authority with little oversight.

Consider regulatory bodies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Education. These agencies issue regulations with the force of law, despite never having been approved by Congress. They dictate business practices, restrict economic freedoms, and impose ideological mandates that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed just how far government overreach could go. Lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and censorship of dissenting views were all imposed in the name of public health. Many of these policies were later shown to be scientifically ineffective or even harmful, yet they demonstrated how quickly constitutional rights could be cast aside in favor of bureaucratic control.

Beyond public health, the government’s collusion with Big Tech has led to a modern censorship regime, where dissenting opinions on topics such as climate policy, election integrity, or gender ideology are labeled as “misinformation” and suppressed. This public-private partnership is exactly the kind of coordinated ideological enforcement that Hayek warned would lead to centralized control of information.

Financial freedom is also under threat. The push for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), increased financial surveillance, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scoring are all mechanisms that grant the state greater power over individual economic choices. Once the government has the ability to monitor and restrict how citizens spend their money, true economic freedom ceases to exist.

Government Power Expands—But Rarely Contracts

One of the most dangerous aspects of government expansion is that power, once seized, is rarely relinquished. As James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 51, “The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place.” In other words, those in power will always seek to maintain and expand their authority unless actively checked by constitutional constraints and a vigilant citizenry.

The last two decades have made this reality undeniable:

• The PATRIOT Act, passed in response to 9/11, vastly expanded government surveillance and has been used far beyond its original counterterrorism purpose.
• The Department of Homeland Security, originally created to prevent foreign terrorist attacks, is now monitoring domestic political speech and labeling dissenters as potential threats.
• Presidential emergency powers, intended for short-term crisis response, have become a routine method of governance, allowing executive orders to bypass Congress entirely.

Temporary measures always have a way of becoming permanent.

Reclaiming Liberty: The Only Path Forward

History has shown that governments do not voluntarily give up power. The only way to reverse this trend is through a renewed commitment to constitutional limits, federalism, and individual responsibility.

• Congress must reclaim its authority. Regulatory agencies should not be making laws—only elected representatives should have that power. Every regulation with the force of law must be subject to a congressional vote.
• State governments must push back. The Tenth Amendment grants states the right to resist unconstitutional federal overreach, and they must use it to reassert their sovereignty.
• Citizens must reject dependence on the state. The more power we cede to government in exchange for security or convenience, the harder it becomes to reclaim our autonomy.
• A free press and open discourse must be protected. The suppression of dissenting opinions only serves to further entrench government control. Debate—not censorship—is the foundation of a free society.

America was designed to resist tyranny, but its survival as a free nation depends entirely on the willingness of its citizens to uphold those principles. If we allow government power to keep expanding unchecked, we will soon find ourselves on Hayek’s Road to Serfdom—where individual freedom is nothing more than an illusion.

The choice is ours: stand firm against creeping authoritarianism, or surrender to a future where the state dictates every aspect of our lives.