The REAL ID Act of 2005: Policy Implementation Despite Obstacles

• In Event: Homeland Security Politics and Policy

Abstract

Magdalena Krajewska, Associate Professor of Political Science at Wingate University, will address the issue of identity verification. Her paper (“The REAL ID Act of 2005: Policy Implementation Despite Obstacles”) represents an extension of her recent book from Cambridge University Press, Documenting Americans: A Political History of National ID Card Proposals in the United States. Specifically, the paper examines the implementation of the REAL ID Act of 2005, an anti-terrorism measure passed after 9/11 that aimed to make drivers’ licenses more secure documents. Although many governors and state legislators opposed it, it entered its final implementation stage in 2016. One contributor to the success was the decision by the small REAL ID Program Office within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to work directly with state DMVs to implement federal standards. REAL ID thus underscores the importance of intergovernmental partnerships in U.S. homeland security.

Author

• Magdalena Krajewska, Wingate University