This last – the state4 – is especially important in the characterization of liberal citizenship. According to liberal theory, state power’s inevitable diminution of individual liberty is the dread disease, for which the only preventative and cure is a robust and vigilant civil society. Liberalism holds that the state, while necessary for many social ends, constantly and remorselessly seeks to expand its authority and resources, driven by the self-interest of politicians, bureaucrats, and private groups that stand to gain by increasing state power. The task of liberal constitutionalism is to confine that power through public institutions and public values, and the task of a liberal civil society is to vindicate and reify that constitutionalism by nurturing an independent citizenry capable of resisting state power grabs, solving problems with minimal government intervention, and maintaining close oversight of its necessary activities. Liberalism’s difficulties in meeting these challenges occupy most of the rest of this chapter.