Aggrandize

aggrandize \uh-GRAN-dyz; AG-ruhn-dyz\, transitive verb:
1. To make great or greater; to enlarge; to increase.
2. To make great or greater in power, rank, reputation, or wealth; -- applied to persons, countries, etc.
3. To make appear great or greater; to exalt.

All over the country, trial lawyers and activist judges are locked into an embrace cemented by their mutual contempt for democratic self-government and their desire to aggrandize their own power at its expense.
-- Rich Lowry, "The Gore Hard Core", National Review, November 20, 2000