Whither Civil Defense and Homeland Security in the Study of Public Policy? A Look at Research on the Policy, the Public, and the Process

Abstract

The policy science movement was born with the purpose of counseling the Department of Defense on a plethora of matters, ranging from resource allocation and efficiency to Nazi propaganda and public opinion during the wartime. In the early 1950s, issues related to WWII tapered in significance and policy researchers slowly shifted from a focus on defense and security to pressing domestic problems, like inequality and rampant poverty. This trend continued until the mid 1960s, when the conflict in Vietnam escalated and Robert McNamara and his “Whiz Kids” called on policy analysts to streamline the wartime budget by “rationalizing” the decisions made about risk, strategic priorities, and defense expenditures. Accordingly, the disciplinary agenda remained interested in defense and security until the mid to late 1970s when the Vietnam era waned and policy scholars once again turned to issues of domestic importance, including energy shortages, educational inequality, social welfare, and environmental degradation. Aside from the occasional voyage into Cold War politics, this nearly exclusive focus on domestic issues among mainstream policy scholars remained largely intact until September 11, 2001, when the threat of terrorism propelled defense and security back onto the disciplinary research agenda. Though exceptionally slow to adjust, modern policy scholars have come to terms with this new reality and are beginning to focus on security and defense in a way that informs policymakers and advances policy theory. This research note is meant to introduce interested readers to this trend by exploring broad themes and exemplar works within the field over the last few years. In recognizing that no single article can meaningfully discuss everything that has been written about defense and security policy, I focus specifically on research related to civil defense and homeland security policy designed to protect the United States against terrorist activity.