Minimum government conservatives are really libertarians.  None of the major conservative thinkers before modern times called for minimum government, as far as I can tell.  The call for "reducing the size of the federal government" was embraced by some conservatives in the United States when Democrats were in power (beginning with FDR).  It was those conservatives who called for limited government that attracted the libertarians as allies.  Then, a series of conservative presidents greatly increased both the power and spending of the federal government, leaving both the libertarians and the Goldwater conservatives looking for a party.  Outside America, I don't think limited government is a major part of consevative thought.  If I am wrong about that, I would appreciate examples.