[nzp]

I'd say you're quite optimistic in thinking that not little government implies power =/= authority, and quite pessimistic in thinking that little government does not imply a civilized, functioning society.

But even without getting into political debates which could get really nuanced, can't authority mean capability in this context? I'm not a native English speaker so I'm not sure, but I don't find it odd. It is also possible that these two words have different (Anglo-Saxon vs French) origin, as most of the examples listed, and that their original meaning was synonymous (of course, I'm far too lazy and tired to check that now).

[Nomentatus]

Law is old; in Medieval times such redundancy was considered normal - usually triple - and was very common; presumably it was considered a literate flourish, embellishment and arabesque (sorry couldn't resist a go at it myself.)