Thanks for clarifying. I think your parent's point was that if you vote for a party because of perceived small government ideals, you would watch those ideals

Thanks for clarifying. I think your parent's point was that if you vote for a party because of perceived small government ideals, you would watch those ideals vanish when the party as a whole wants to impose certain ideals on the smaller governments. Ultimately if you delegate power and decision making enough, a few people with the consolidated power call the shots no matter how many smaller governments/powers exist. OP cited Regan as an example of that