Department of Homeland Security
Introduction Department of Homeland Security is one of the strongest security forces in the world. Its main mandate is to prevent terror threats directed towards America. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security has the duty to protect the citizens against any natural disasters.
The article ‘Homeland Security: Department Organization and Management’ by Harold C. Relyea offers in depth information about the history and formation of the department (Relyea, 2002). Moreover, the article offers readers with the roles or duties the Department of Homeland Security. Finally, the article offer readers with an insight of how the Department of Homeland Security relates with other departments. Therefore, a deep critique of the article is done. Discussion First, the research question is not clearly stated in the article.
Relyea does not provide readers with a clear research question about his study. This is because, in the article, there is no point where Relyea is indicating his intention for conducting the research. However, while reading the article readers can notice that an implied research question exists, which Relyea is trying to answer. In this case, when one is reading the article, he or she notices that Relyea is trying to find out the history, connection with other departments and roles of the Department of Homeland Security (Relyea, 2002). For this reason, the research question is; what is the history, connection with other departments and roles of the Department of Homeland Security? It is essential to note that this research article emphasizes what is happening in the Department of Homeland Security since its inception.
For this reason, Relyea offers readers with the history, connections with other departments and the roles of the Department of Homeland Security (Relyea, 2002). In an effort to answer these questions, Relyea has an implied thesis that is not clearly stated in the article. Moreover, certain issues revolve around in this article forming a thesis. In this case, despite the research question, Relyea offers answers for purposes of implementations of the Department of Homeland Security by the Congress (Relyea, 2002). Therefore, the implied thesis is; analysis of the Department of Homeland Security for purposes of implementation by the Congress.
According to the research, Relyea tends to answer the research questions. When one is reading the research, it is easy to notice that how the history of Department of Homeland Security is clearly evaluated. In this case, the history starts with the circumstances that led to the formation of Homeland Security. For this reason, readers are able to follow through the different events that led to the formation of the department (Relyea, 2002). In addition, the research is providing readers with the formation of the department. In this case, the readers are able to understand the department structure from reading the research.
Therefore, there is an answer for the research question. Moreover, Relyea provides information of how Homeland Security has been relating with other departments. In this case, Relyea provides information about the relationship of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transport among other departments (Relyea, 2002). For this reason, the readers are able to understand more about the formation of Homeland Security and the department relationship with the other departments. Therefore, Relyea gives readers the answer to the research question. In addition to the above, Relyea provides readers with the different roles the Department of Homeland Security plays.
In this case, Relyea states that the main role for the department is to prevent security threats within the American borders (Relyea, 2002). The government is providing the department with all the available resources to ensure safety of the citizens. As a result, Relyea shows readers how the department has been successful becoming among the best security agents across the globe. For this reason, Relyea fully answers the research question due to the quality of the information he provides to readers in the research. Therefore, the article was worth doing. The first main point of the article is the history of Homeland Security.
In this case, the formation of Homeland Security immediately took effect after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (Relyea, 2002). At that time, President Bush took executive orders to form the Department of omeland Security. Many people in America were calling for the government to take necessary measures to enhance security within the borders (Relyea, 2002). For this reason, the president through the Congress thought it was good idea to form Homeland Security to protect American citizens within the borders. The next main point, Relyea is trying to explain readers what the relationship Homeland Security has with the other departments.
In this case, Relyea uses the Department of Transport. According to the research article, the Department of Transport works closely with Homeland Security to ensure safety within the borders. This is where they heighten security at all transport terminals (Relyea, 2002). In this situation, the two departments share resources to minimize cost and at the same time, they reduce security threats entering America (Relyea, 2002). Therefore, using this example, Relyea shows readers how Homeland Security works closely with other departments to ensure safety within the borders of America. The other main point of the article is the roles of Homeland Security.
In this case, Relyea shows readers the main roles of Homeland Security to the country. For example, one of the roles of Homeland Security is prevention of terrorist threats within the country (Relyea, 2002). In this situation, Homeland Security gathers information that might affect or threaten the security of citizens within the American borders. In addition, it is the work of Homeland Security to ensure protection to all the citizens of America against any terror threat. For this point, readers are able to understand different Homeland Security tasks.
In addition, Homeland Security is mandated not only to protect the citizens against terror attacks but also to protect them against natural disasters. For instance, Homeland Security has the duty to predict a natural disaster that might occur to protect people from any danger (Relyea, 2002). In this case, Homeland Security works hand in hand with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to help in relocating people from disaster prone areas to safety ones (Relyea, 2002). This helps in protecting people against natural disasters. Therefore, this shows that the roles of Homeland Security are among the main points of the article.
The articles tend to take advantage of information from primary sources. In this case, Relyea uses ‘Congress Records’ as the main source of information for the article (Relyea, 2002). The ‘Congressional Records’ provides information about history in the formation of Homeland Security (Relyea, 2002). In this case, readers are able to know the processes that led to the formation of Homeland Security. The ‘Congressional Records’ tends to provide step by step information about the formation of the department from the time President Bush gave the executive orders (Relyea, 2002). In this case, the source enriches the article a lot.
In addition, the ‘Congressional Record’ source offers information about the relationship of Homeland Security with other departments. In this case, the ‘Congressional Records’ provides information about the relationship of Homeland Security with the Department of Defense (Relyea, 2002). According to this source, Department of Defense contains all the security forces in the country. Therefore, when the two departments work together, Homeland Security provides information or intelligence relating to any security threats while Department of Defense provides security forces for the purposes of protecting American citizens (Relyea, 2002). Additionally, Relyea uses university sources from other scholars to show that other professionals agree with his point of view while conducting the research.
In this case, one source from PrincetonUniversity by Destler is constantly applicable in the article (Relyea, 2002). In this case Relyea uses the source to show the formation of Homeland Security. Therefore, the source provides information about the structure of Homeland Security. For this reason, using this information from the university sources, it shows the quality of the article. Therefore, the sources Relyea uses in the article tend to fulfill the purpose of the research.
In this case, the use of ‘Congressional Records’ as a primary source improves quality of the article (Relyea, 2002). This is because all departments are made by the US Congress. For this reason, the source provides quality information about the history of Homeland Security. In addition, the use of university sources ffrom other scholars significantly fulfills the article’s purpose (Relyea, 2002). This proves that other scholars have already investigated this topic. Therefore, this shows that there is a combination of efforts.
The findings of the article support Relyea thesis. This is because Relyea was able to gather the history about the formation of Homeland Security. As a result, Relyea creatively executes this information for readers in the article (Relyea, 2002). In addition, was able to show readers how Homeland Security interacts with other departments in the aim of protecting American citizens (Relyea, 2002). These findings are fulfilling part of the thesis statement. Finally, part of the findings involves the roles of Homeland Security.
Therefore, when a reader reads this article, he or she will notice that there is provision of roles of Homeland Security. Henceforth, it is true to say that, the article fulfills the purpose. The main goals of Relyea are to provide readers and the relevant authorities with the necessary information pertaining Homeland Security for purposes of implementation to make Homeland Security stronger. In this case, the article provides historical information about Homeland Security (Relyea, 2002). For this reason, the authorities tasked with the duty of implementing the department have the basis. As a result, they can implement on the basis of the cause of the problem.
In addition, it is easier for readers to understand any other information about Homeland Security after learning the history. Therefore, the findings fulfill Relyea goals. Additionally, the findings include information about the formation and roles of Homeland Security. In this case, Relyea’s aim is to ensure that for purposes of implementation it is necessary for authorities to know which part of the structure to implement (Relyea, 2002). Moreover, the structures come with the roles. In this situation, it is possible to know whether to expand the roles of Homeland securities or not.
Finally, the findings provide information of how Homeland Security relates with other department (Relyea, 2002). Therefore, when making implementations the authorities may know the other department they are going to affect with the implementations. Although Relyea does not provide conclusion and implications of the findings, it is clear what is followed from the article.. The findings tend to support the implied thesis. In addition, the evidence in the article tends to create an implication for relevant authorities tasked with the duty of implementing the Department of Homeland Security (Relyea, 2002).
In this case, the relevant authorities have to be cautious while implementing not to affect the department together with the other departments.The other main strengths evident in this article are the use of a clear structure and Basic English. Therefore, all ages from young people to grown-ups are able to enjoy reading and understand the article. In addition, due to the simplicity of the article, it is easy for teachers to use it as a source in the education system. This is because it will be easy for students to read and understand the information written in the article.
For this reason, the article provides and easy platform of understanding for all readers. On the other hand, a certain weakness exists in the article. Although the article provides clear information about the history, formation and relationship with other departments, information about the roles is not clear (Relyea, 2002). The roles of Homeland Security are not clearly stated in the article. For this reason, readers have to establish the roles on their own based on the information provided.
Therefore, it would be better if Relyea tried to evaluate the roles of Homeland Security in the article. Conclusion According to the above critique, the historical information about Homeland Security is extremely clear for readers in the article. In this case, the readers are able to follow events that led to the creation of Homeland Security. In addition, readers are able to understand the structure of Homeland Security. This is where the article provides information of how Homeland Security works as a department.
However, it is not clear about the roles of the department becoming a weakness of the article. On the contrary, the sources provide credible information for the article making it of high quality. Finally, the clear structure and Basic English make the article easier to read and understand for the readers.
