CONTEMPORARY CASES IN PUBLIC POLICY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

CONTEMPORARY CASES IN PUBLIC POLICY - Essay Example 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 c itizens 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 establishme nt 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 informati on 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