Abstract
The terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 confirmed that the terrorist prevention methods in place at that time had failed, and a change was necessary. One explanation for this failure is a lack of necessary information sharing between the agencies that investigate and prevent terrorism. For this reason the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (HSA) was enacted to create the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), improve information sharing, and prevent future attacks. This thesis will serve as a policy analysis for the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and will examine the changes this Act made in the way agencies share pertinent information to protect the security of the homeland. This policy analysis has used a four-step policy analysis framework by Houston, Bridgmon, and Parsons (2008) that looks at the changes to information sharing that resulted from the implementation of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the opening of the Department of Homeland Security. It focuses on the first two titles of this Act, Title 1: Department of Homeland Security and Title 2: Information analysis and Infrastructure Protection, since they directly relate to information sharing. The policy analysis is followed by recommendations for the future of the Department of Homeland Security in order to increase effectiveness based on the current efficiency of the DHS, determined through the Act itself, academic journals, and government publications. The HSA and DHS made a lot of changes in the way agencies share information. Individual programs like the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS), Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative, and If You See Something, Say Something improved many of the communication practices between agencies and the public. However, more research on the constantly changing policies of the HSA will be beneficial in keeping it current and effective.