Make an argument essay about how Americans' new focus on homeland security has affected the relationship between the different levels of government. Focus on the
immediate aftermath of September 11, but also explore where that relationship
stands today.
(Keep these in mind)
How much federal money is being provided to state and local governments for
meeting homeland security costs? Who decides how this money is spent?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of allowing programs to be designed
and implemented at the state level?
In the area of homeland security, can states function as "laboratories of
democracy," in the same sense that they do for other issues such as welfare reform
and health care provision?
How complicit were state and local governments in the federal government's
surveillance practices after September 11?
How do the Tenth and Fourteenth amendments, and the commerce clause, factor
in to the changes that occurred after September 11?
However, how has that relationship changed in the years since the aftermath of
September 11? And how have Americans' attitudes changed as well?