The role of the federal government definitely has changed since its inception, and how people feel about it as well. I think what makes our government inefficient and overbearing nowadays is the commercial interests inside the country itself, vying to get control to become more profitable.
It seems that our politicians sacrifice the people as they attempt to serve their other masters. It's more screwed up than it has ever been before. The question is, can we change it for the better? After all, this country was only an experiment and our govt an attempt to try something new. We as the people have the responsibility to try and fix things.