Lawmakers are Missing the Mark The American people, in general have most of their pressing problems go largely unaddressed, whether it is perceived as such or is fact, the American people have lost faith in their lawmakers. These problems continue to go unaddressed for a multitude of reasons, including the ambiguity of the policy values, the decentralization of the U.S. Congress and federal bureaucratic agencies, the influence of special interest groups, as well as the lack of governmental participation by the public. These reasons alone are not the reason that problems go unaddressed, but compounded together makes it very difficult for lawmakers to make decisions regarding policy and for the general public to believe that lawmakers have the needs of their constituents in mind when creating policy. Lawmakers have difficulty when dealing with issues that are ambiguous in their policy values. Some of the issues presented to lawmakers have meanings that vary and can be perceived as not in the best interest of their constituents. One example of a recent issue in policy was the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, signed into law by President Obama on December 31, 2011. This is not a new act, just the annual updated act authorizing military spending for national security programs and military personnel. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, President Bush expanded the act to include counter-terrorism efforts. This was highly supported by the American people, as it was seen as necessary for national and personal security. The updated version in 2012 expanded the counter-terrorism section that expanded military authorization to detain U.S. citizens as well as non-citizens indefinitely without trial if suspected of terrorist activity. This change has been viewed by many Americans as a violation of their liberty causing an outpour of anger in some Americans that see this violation as lawmakers not having their best interest in mind. According to Deborah Stone in Policy Paradox, “Policy issues are then cast as a choice between protecting the liberty of individuals and preventing harms to others (Stone, 2002).” With the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, lawmakers had to make a choice between those two points. In this case, security took precedence as expanding the counter-terrorism section of the act was to prevent harm to others, at the cost of individual liberties. Policy value ambiguity can negatively impact the perception of the American public when it comes to how the lawmakers are supporting their constituents. The decentralization of U.S. Congress and federal bureaucratic agencies and the influence of special interest groups go hand in hand when it comes to the problems of the American people being largely unaddressed. The decentralization of the U.S. Congress and the bureaucratic agencies is in place as a checks and balance system, but this system negatively impacts the creation and implementation of policy. Lawmakers do the best that they can, but if they do not hear from their constituents, they often will prioritize policy needs of those that reach out to them with an “I scratch your back” type of negotiation. While various federal agencies lobby lawmakers advocating for policies that benefits the needs of their agencies, the agencies also have other groups that may advocate on their behalf as well. There are special interest groups that will advocate for their needs and reach out to their specific lawmakers as well and those lawmakers will make a decision based on they what they know and even sometimes who they know. "When a decentralized Congress and its members are more concerned with its relationships with interest groups, key bureaucracies, and citizen-clients, it is difficult to make "big" policies that require substantial legislative action (Birkland 106).” Ironically, the American people often do not participate in government because they have lost faith in the system. Voter turn-out suggests that voters largely do not participate in the elections, with a significantly lower percentage turning out for the mid-term elections. It is difficult to pinpoint the reason that there has been a steady decline in voter turn-out, but historians speculate that some of those factors include that Americans that live in predominately Republican or Democratic areas believe that their voice has little impact as well as being disappointed with politicians in general, whether it is because of the negative smear campaigns or the scandals that are heavily publicized. Conservative Eastern Washington is an example of the first reason, as many of the voters feel that their voice does not count, as the majority of the population is on the west side of the state and is predominately democratic, leaving the rural areas in Eastern Washington without a voice on what their needs are. In addition to not participating in the election process, the American people also do not regularly engage their elected officials sharing what their needs are. When constituents do not engage their officials, the likelihood of lawmakers to identify and address the needs of their people is slim. This is a vicious cycle, as lawmakers continue to move forward policies that their constituents may not agree with, constituents continue to lose faith and do not engage their lawmakers, thus continuing the cycle. Creating policy is a difficult task made even more difficult by the lack of participation from the American people, the ambiguity surrounding political values, the decentralization of government and special interest groups. Lawmakers are not addressing the most pressing problems of their constituents. The disconnect between those in office and regular citizens is significant, in many cases the American people do not engage their lawmakers, which in turn causes lawmakers to side with the special interest groups that do ask for their support. Until confidence is restored in the system, the American people will continue to perceive lawmakers as not have their best interests in mind when creating policy. But, this will only happen if the American people really use their voices and advocate for the policies that they believe are important to them. Policy makers need all of the opinions and facts to make effective decisions for this country and their constituents need to step up and hold them accountable for the decisions that they make.