Predicting the Loss of Constitutional Rights and Civil Liberties in the Name of National Security

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to explore the relationship between the increased need for national security standards and the negative impact on constitutional rights and civil liberties of U.S. citizens. Balance of Power Theory and Balance of Threat Theory as well as the LAMP technique were employed to develop a method for studying the relationship and for deriving results. Through the Lockwood Analytical Method for Prediction (LAMP) technique, the study determines likely futures based on three scenarios: the U.S. faces a massive terrorist attack, the U.S. faces numerous small-scale attacks, and the U.S. faces no terrorist attack. After developing permutations for all three scenarios, the likely alternate futures support the notion that the U.S. courts, U.S. population, and U.S. national security community would not prevent alterations to current laws and Acts granting citizens constitutional rights and civil liberties if the threat of attack was imminent. The study concludes by supporting the hypothesis that national security standards will impinge on constitutional rights and civil liberties.