Homeland security continues to be a hot issue, as is the organization of the Department of Homeland security. In the summer of 2004, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States released a report suggesting there be a national intelligence director, reporting directly to the president, to which all federal intelligence operations and organizations would report.

Students should first interview local public safety officials on the local needs and issues related to homeland security, and how well the new department is serving local needs. They should find out how the handling intelligence related to civil preparedness. Some students should also interview local civil liberties activists to get that side of things. With the local needs and issues in mind, students can then study national aspects and how effectively the newly formed U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been organized. Students will thenlobby the new department to better respond to local needs. Students should also write to congressmen and the Office of the President, regarding the possibility of the creation of a new "information czar," after forming an opinion on the subject. Students should also find out how they can personally contribute to homeland security.

Liberty, Equality, and Self-Government

Bureaucracy and Self-Government

The power of the bureaucracy is both undeniable and difficult to reconcile with the concept of self-government. Bureaucracy entails hierarchy, command, permanence of office, appointment to office, and fixed rules, whereas self-government involves equality, consent, rotation of office, election to office, and open decisions. At base, the conflict between bureaucracy and self-government centers on the degree of power held by unelected officials.

Eliminating the bureaucracy is not an answer to the problem. American society would collapse without the defense establishment, the education and welfare programs, the regulation of business, the transportation systems, and the hundreds of other activities of the federal bureaucracy.

Oversight by Congress, the president, and the judiciary has been America's answer to the problem. Can you think of ways this oversight might be made more effective? Can you also think of ways of reorganizing the bureaucracy that would enhance accountability? For example, do you think the bureaucracy would be more accountable if civil servants rotted from one agency to another every few years, much as military personnel rotate in their assignments? What would be the disadvantages of a personnel system of this kind?

From page 432 of Patterson's American Democracy 7^th edition

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Quality of the Federal Bureaucracy

Most American do not think highly of the federal bureaucracy. When questioned in polls, people say the bureaucracy is wasteful of taxpayers' money and is staffed by people who are not particularly talented and who do not work all that hard.

These stereotypes have some basis. There is waste in federal programs, and some civil servants do take advantage of the job security provided by a civil service appointment. However, these problems are not as large as many people think. As former New York governor Mario Cuomo pointed out, fairness rather than efficiency is the goal of many federal programs. Loans to college students, for example, are awarded on the basis of need, which means they simply cannot be handed out in equal amounts to anyone who applies. That approach would be much less expensive to administer, but a need-based program requires a detailed application process and a case-by-case assessment of the applicants.

Some deadbeats work in the federal bureaucracy, which is not surprising in view of the fact that it has more than two million federal employees. Interestingly, when people are asked about their direct experiences with federal employees, they usually express satisfaction with the service they personally have received from postal workers, social security administrators, National Park Service rangers, and other civil servants.

However, the federal bureaucracy has had difficulty attracting top-notch employees. As the gap has widened between the pay and benefits in the public sector relative to the private sector, college graduates have shown less interest in careers in government. A 2001 survey found that only one in ten graduates were considering such a career path.

A government career is not without its frustrations. A 2002 study by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government found that management-level public-sector employees have less opportunity than comparable private-sector employees to pursue initiatives. Their work is more constrained because the operating rules and budget allocations are less flexible than in the private sector. However, the Kennedy School's study also found that public-sector managers get more intrinsic satisfaction from their work, which focuses on improving public life, than do private-sector managers.

The quality of the nation's public servants affects the quality of governance. Ultimately, an organization is no better than the people who staff it. What would it take for you to consider a career in government? What agency could you envision working in? For people who want to pursue a government career, a first step is often a master's degree program in public administration or public policy. Many of these programs require only a year of study after the bachelor's degree. For an entry-level employee with a master's degree rather than a bachelor's degree, the initial salary is nearly 50 percent higher. Appointees with master's degrees enter the civil service at a higher rank (GS-9 rather than GS-5) and are placed in positions that entail greater responsibility than those assigned to newly hired appointees with bachelor's degrees.

From page 367 of Patterson's American Democracy 7^th edition

Internet Resources

Working with the Department of Homeland Security
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home7.jsp
Links provided regarding a variety of aspects of working with the Department, from citizens to businesses to other governmental entities.

Organization of Department of Homeland Security
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home1.jsp

Homeland Security Volunteer Opportunities
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=41

The 9-11 Commission Report
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/

Yahoo Guide to Department of Homeland Security
http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Executive_Branch/Departments_and_Agencies/Department_of_Homeland_Security__DHS_/

Yahoo Search of Homeland Security Act of 2002 Internet Resources
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=homeland%20security%20act

Terrorism Research Center
http://www.terrorism.com/homeland/homeland.shtml
The site provide analysis, press stories, and other information regarding homeland security.

Analysis from Jurist: Legal Intelligence
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/terrorism.htm
Legal and civil rights information/analysis regarding homeland security and counter-terrorism

NetAction's Virtual Activist Training Course
http://www.netaction.org/training/index.html
Detailed course on how to be an activist.

Office of Government Ethics
http://www.usoge.gov/

Government Resources on the Web
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/govweb.html
Annotated list of federal, state, international, foreign, political science, and statistical resources. (University of Michigan)

Thomas
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Federal legislative tracking service from the U.S. Library of Congress. The home page also has a link to state and local resources.

Searching for the Meaning of: The American Democracy
Connecting the text and classroom with first-hand experience

1		How would evaluate the Department's ability to implement policy, based on the framework of the Homeland Security Act of 2002? (see pg 420-421)
2		How would you describe how other departments, the office of the Presidency, and local agencies have inter-played in the shaping of the Department? How responsive does the Departments seem to citizens like yourself and the group(s) with which you were working? (see pgs. 424-429)
3		How would evaluate the Department's system of accountability? (see 432-438)
4		How well is the formation of the Department playing out as an example of reinventing government? (see pgs.438-440)