ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by looking at the domestic context as it developed after World War II. It examines how the domestic political environment has an impact on political processes and outcomes. The chapter focuses on the executive branch of government, including constitutional powers and limitations and politically based structures, including the National Security Council and the interagency process, the influence of outside actors—the hard men. The American Revolution had expelled foreign forces from American soil, and the major priorities of the country concentrated on devising and developing a new polity in a largely virgin, undeveloped land. National security policy occupies a special place within the American federal system because its content includes decisions that can affect the very physical survival of the country, a unique role. The president is designated as the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States. The chapter concludes with extended discussions of two political examples, homeland security and the budgetary sequester.
