Sometimes, I imagine society as a game of tug of war:

Whenever governments try to gain more control over their citizens, some citizens realize that the government isn't necessarily the friend it claims to be and become more weary of it. They may also realize how much control the government already has and try to avoid this control. Therefore, more people are figuring out how to escape government control.

To the government, this looks like it is losing more and more control which is frightening: "How can we keep up law and order without enough control?!"

Which then leads to the government trying to gain more control ....