United States of America Policy on Surveillance - Essay Example

? United s of America Policy on Surveillance United s of America Policy on Surveillance Public policy can be described as the system comprising regulatory measures, courses of action, laws and funding priorities concerning specific topics and issues promulgated by a government (Bardach, 2012). A government public policy is usually embodied in legislative acts, judicial decisions and the constitution. Establishing public policy is a very complex process involving various individuals, groups and policy makers. It is easier to establish a public policy when it only affects a few people as opposed to when those involved are large and diverse groups of individuals. The need to have public policy comes as a result of various events that have culminated or are likely to lead to future problems among the public. Public policy in this case gives measure and courses of action that ought to be taken in order to prevent similar issues from occurring (Howlett and Perl 2009). The United States of America has had a huge share of both internal and external problems that have necessitated creation of public policies to help individuals deal with emerging issues in the contemporary world. One of the most recent issues the American government has had to deal with is terrorism. The government has experienced terrorism attacks and threats to that effect from various extremist groups (Bacchi, 2009). The most recent round of attacks was the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, commonly known as the twin towers, and the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001. There have been other threats of similar terrorist attacks recurring in the near future on American citizens on the American soil as well as those in other countries considered to be allies of the US. Since the twin tower attacks on September eleventh 2001 in the United States of America, terrorism has been a very delicate issue all over the world specifically in the United States of America. In fact it is safe to say that it has been one of the biggest issues given attention by the United States of America in preventing such attacks on American soil. This has resulted in the government of the United States of America Adopting policies in a measure to combat terrorism (Le Grand, J 2003). Such policies include the surveillance policy adopted by the United States of America Government. However, in the adoption and implementation of this policy there have been various issues that surround it prompting for the need of reforms in the United States Surveillance policy (Human Rights watch, 2013). In the wake of the these terrorist attacks, the American government perceived the establishment of domestic surveillance policy as the best way of planning and preparing and responding to any future threats or acts of terrorism. The impact of this policy has been very huge among the citizens and various interest groups. In order to make the policy effective, several pieces of legislation had to be passed, including the USA patriot Act of 2001 and the Homeland Security Act (2002) among others alongside the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 that has undergone various amendments to make it responsive to contemporary issues in terrorism. The main aim of FISA is to collect foreign intelligence information, that is, the information which is necessary in protecting America and its allies from attacks or sabotage by other foreign countries or groups (Considine, 2005). The Patriot Act of 2001 empowered the federal government through its agencies to collect and analyze private data and information about American citizens and analyze it so as to detect any information linked to terrorists. The Act also gave the president more powers to act against any terrorist groups that was deemed a security threat to America and its citizens. There are various issues involved in this move by the government to access private information of its citizens. Proponents of the move argue that it is necessary because it enables the government to neutralize terrorist plans while opponents argue that it’s against the privacy rights of individuals. The main key players in the development of this key public policy in the United States include the President and the Whitehouse, The US Congress, The National Security Agency, and various civil libertarian movements. The president of the United States is the one who bears executive authority to initiate any actions intended to protect the American citizens from any external attacks by doing anything possible to identify, plan, prepare and respond to terrorism threats and attacks. The main role of the US congress is to pass the necessary laws and amendments that can make the whole surveillance policy implementable. The main function of the National Security Agency (NSA) in the surveillance policy is to collect data and information that can enable the Security structures of the US to breakdown terrorism plots and protect the population from any such attacks or threats. The civil libertarian movements play the role of the watchdogs by ensuring the interests of the public are taken in to consideration in the development of the surveillance policy and that the constitutional rights of the people and respected. The main elements in this policy include the fight against terrorism, protection of American citizens from any attacks, gathering of private information from American citizens, the need to be prepared for any future threats of terrorism, protection of the rights of American citizens enshrined in the constitution as well as the powers of the president and the security agencies in their role to fight against terrorism. The development of this public policy includes various dynamics revolving around individual rights and freedoms, the war on terrorism and the interests of various libertarian movements. All these dynamics have to be taken in to consideration in the development of the surveillance policy so as to have a policy that is accepted by all parties and interest groups involved and one that is free of controversy. Both Bush’s and Obama’s administrations have come under fire over reports released in various media outlets about the National Security Agency ‘s (NSA) wire tapping program that is responsible for tapping communication among US citizens. This amounts to the government spying on its citizens with other cases of opening personal mails coming from countries suspected to have strong bases for terrorists. The allegations were first made under the George Bush government in 2005 and resurfaced under President Obama’s administration in 2013. This has led to a feeling of insecurity among Americans with the knowledge that their private information is being monitored. These revelations have led to an outcry of reforms on the surveillance policy (Leonnig, Carol D. (2006). The NSA’s warrantless surveillance allowed the Intelligence body, through an executive order from the president, to monitor and collect data on US citizens from their internet activity such as email communications and social media, phone calls, text messages and any other communication between Americans and other parties outside the US. This was done without search warrants as required by law, a fact which has led to huge criticisms of the president’s broader surveillance program. According to the article “US: Urgent Need for Surveillance Reforms” the Human Rights Watch Website argues that the current policy on domestic surveillance of the United States of America Government needs to be reformed because in the state it is in, it violates privacy rights of the American people (Human Rights watch, 2013). This is so since the policy warrants the tapping of telephone conversation and video surveillance of people who fit the profile of terror suspects. The issue here is the determining of who is to investigated and the fact that the government usually uses such policies to defend illegal surveillance. Calls to have amendments on the laws enabling the surveillance program by the government have been backed by both Republicans and Democrats including leading politicians from both divides. Implementation of the surveillance program has encountered a lot of challenges lately creating room for discussion of changes and amendments to the public policy. One of the biggest challenges facing the surveillance program is the question as to whether it violates the constitutional provisions spelt out in the Fourth Amendment which grant Americans rights to privacy. Both the Patriot Act and FISA seem to issue controversial guidelines relating to how the persona; data and information should be collected so as to help the government to fight terrorism. However, the policy must not be fully condemned since it is through it that law enforcement agencies in the country get intelligence that enable them to prevent terror attacks. I would however advise the government to enact laws that provide for the monitoring of how surveillance is done especially when it is being carried out domestically. The surveillance policy, like most public policies exemplifies various theoretical models touching on government operations, the scope of the government, equity principles and accountability. Government operations will significantly be improved if the surveillance policy is implemented to the latter since it will enable the government to concentrate on service provision with the knowledge that their citizens are fully guarded against external attacks. The scope of the government as far as the process of gathering information from its citizens has also come under constant attention with various groups questioning the authority of government agencies in their actions. The government has been said to have acted beyond its constitutional scope in the implementation of some aspects of the surveillance policy. The government needs to be accountable to its citizens for any action taken in the interest of the public. The surveillance policy is in the public interest and the government is therefore obliged to be accountable to its citizens on any measures taken to implement the policy. There are various lessons that can be learnt from implementation of this public policy in the US. One of the best lessons is the view that the protection of individual citizens is one of the main functions of the government and the government should do the best it can to ensure its citizens are protected from attacks or threats to that effect (Weber, 2011). The other lesson is that all public policies should be established in accordance with the constitutional provisions and other existing laws for it to be highly effective. The importance of this surveillance policy cannot be underestimated. The policy is therefore set to remain important to the US government in to the foreseeable future. Further developments are however expected to take place so as to make the policy easy to implement. Among the issues expected to develop in the near future include enacting various laws and amending existing laws so as to ensure the policy is fully backed by a constitutional legal framework (Wallison, 2003). References Amaney, J., 2008, "Civil Liberties and the Otherization of Arab and Muslim Americans," in Amaney Jamal and Nadine Naber, eds., Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11:From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects. Syracuse University Press. Bardach, E., 2012, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving CQ Press / SAGE, Thousand Oaks, Ca. Bacchi, C., 2009, Analysing Policy: What's the Problem Represented to Be?, Pearson Australia. Considine, M., 2005, Making Public Policy, Polity Press, New York. Howlett, M, Ramesh, M and Perl, A., 2009, Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles and Subsystems (Third Edition). Oxford University Press, Incorporated, New York. Human Rights Watch, 2013. US: Urgent Need for Surveillance Reforms. Available at: http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/06/11/us-urgent-need-surveillance-reforms Accessed on 27th August, 2013. Heidee, S., Tahlia T., Rashad, H. and Marcia, Y., 2004, "Developments in Law and Policy: The Costs of Post-9/11 National Security Strategy," Yale Law & Policy Review, vol. 22, no. 1 197-233, Le Grand, J., 2003, Motivation, Agency and Public Policy, Oxford University Press. Weber, E. T., 2011, Morality, Leadership, and Public Policy. London: Continuum. K.A. Taipale, James Jay Carafano, 2006, "Fixing surveillance". The Washington Times. January 25, P. 16. Posner, R. A., 2006, "A New Surveillance Act". The Wall Street Journal. February 15, P.27. Wallison, P. J. 2003, "Ronald Reagan: The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency". Westview Press. Leonnig, C. D. 2006, "Administration Paper Defends Spy Program". The Washington Post. January 20, P. 36. Read More