Public sector vs. private
Big Government flourishes with small citizens. This is true as a matter of ideological cause and effect: by definition, the more powerful you believe the centralized State should be, the less respect you have for individual citizens.
Big people don’t need a pervasive nanny state with vast power, money, and manpower to micro-regulate their business transactions and personal life choices. A larger public sector inescapably means a smaller private one. This is especially true as power shifts from elected officials to the permanent bureaucracy, which voters have very little influence upon.