The Republican Party and the Democratic Party (the national versions -- the RNC and DNC) are both in favor of big government and a police state. Big government

The Republican Party and the Democratic Party (the national versions -- the RNC and DNC) are both in favor of big government and a police state. Big government accrues power, and even though the parties only get to time-share the government, a time-share of a big government lets them do more than they could with a time-share of a smaller government. Full fledged support of small government would be suicide; they simply talk it up when it helps them get elected. There's a lot of political machinery supporting the parties and the government at the size they are today. Reduce government, and some of that human machinery becomes unemployed. Some of those people who would be unemployed are the people setting party, and government, policy. There are exceptions on both sides. Some Democrats have a philosophy that's sort of socially aware quasi-libertarianism (Senators from Oregon and Vermont come to mind). There are also libertarian-flavor "less-government" Republicans; Ron Paul being the canonical example. The Republican libertarians tend to go more for small government -- unless your social habits violate their social norms, in which case you're a criminal -- while the Democrat libertarians tend to go for medium government, but they are, or at least try to be, against a police state.