When we get more government in the US, we usually don't get a powerful and effective public institution, responsible for delivering a service directly to the people, staffed with dedicated public servants. Instead, we generally get a tangle of regulation and a large private industrial complex.

A major exception to this -- though they are becoming less so -- are the various branches of the military. They overlap with one another and thus come into conflict; but all soldiers are dedicated public servants.

Immediately adjacent to the military is the US arsenal system, or military industrial complex, a web of not-really-competing companies that the DoD tries to manage via complex and demanding contracts.

This doesn't necessarily mean we can't have effective social services, though -- it's just that they would not be government agencies. Planned Parenthood, which often functions in the face of considerable government opposition, is a great example of an effective and dependable public service. So is the National Rifle Association, which is primarily concerned with maintaining ranges and training programs for police and military as well as civilian use. They aren't businesses but they aren't part of the government either.

Huntington discusses the medieval structure as one of a "harmony of government and society". Perhaps in the US we are trying too hard to get our government to do things it was not meant to do. It doesn't mean there is nothing to do.

Found a copy of Huntington's essay online: http://pscourses.ucsd.edu/ps200b/Huntington%20Political%20Mo...