Development of National Security Policy

Several actors and factors are involved in the formulation of national security policy in the United States. The most important actors are found in the Executive Branch, led by the President, and the Legislative Branch. As will be seen, the elected politicians and the appointed staff members serving them have the primary responsibility for formulating this policy. However, the governmental bureaucracies, including the military, which are charged with implementing the policy also have considerable influence in the formulation of it. Finally, the democratic form of government provides several non-governmental actors with opportunities to have influence on the formulation of policy.

In order to understand how national security policy is formulated, it is best to first consider the parameters established by the Constitution for its formulation. Article I grants Congress the power to make laws, while Article II grants the President the power to enforce these laws and to act as the head of state and the head of the government. Thus, Congress has a rather vague role in the formulation of national security policy and foreign policy (except insofar as it has the enumerated power of advising the President in negotiating foreign agreements and then consenting in these agreements). In contrast, the Constitution specifically grants the President the powers serve as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, to nominate and appoint ambassad

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ant that military strategy and policy became among the most important elements in the formulation of foreign policy and national security policy. Thus, the newly-formed Defense Department became one of the most influential agencies in the formulation of these policies (Great Decisions, 1996, pp. 7-9). The role of the military leadership in the formulation of national security policy has become controversial. From the outset, the founders of this country dictated that the military should be subservient to civilian political leaders. Thus, the President was made the Commander-in-Chief and Congress was given the power of the purse strings over the military. However, the military began exerting greater influence on policymaking during the Cold War, since it had the expertise in making war. As at least one commentator has noted, a virtual conflict erupted between Congress and the military by the late 1940s. This conflict did not reach the public eye until the Vietnam War, when military officers began openly complaining that the civilian leadership in the government was not letting them fight the war in a manner which would have made it "winnable." In the 1970s, the military officer corps became politically conservative and side
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Approximate Word count = 1760
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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