The United States has undoubtedly shaped its national security policies on issues presented on the global stage. Global factors are commonly examined to determine how U.S. national security policies are affected. By themselves, these factors are inadequate to explain the direction these multifaceted national security policies will take. Determining the direction of U.S. national security policies involves not only global factors, but also domestic factors. This article will examine the effects that domestic factors have on national security policymaking. First, it will use various arguments from a selected number of previous literature to examine how national institutional structures, public opinion, fiscal policies, and leadership characteristics play a role in these policies. Next, he will use these arguments in the context of American politics by presenting several examples found at the national level. Finally, this article will examine these domestic factors to illustrate how U.S. security policy has been misaligned from real security threats. The structure of the American government plays an important role in determining national security policy. Bueno de Mesquita and Smith (2012) discuss national international structures such as the spectrum between inclusiveness and exclusivity of governance and the extent to which government is deemed accountable and transparent or personalistic and opaque. They argue that these two structures determine the extent to which national security policy can be influenced. Governments that are more accountable to their constituents would be more aware of the direction national security policies are taking. Powell's (1993) “guns and butter” model reflects the degree to which public opinion has an effect... ......" Political Psychology 25 (3): 441-463.Haney, Patrick J. 2005. “Foreign Policy Advice: Patterns and Mysteries of the Bush Administration.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 35 (2): 289-301. Hildebrandt, Timothy, Courtney Hillebrecht, Peter M. Holm, and Jon Pevehouse 2013. “The Domestic Politics of Humanitarian Intervention: Public Opinion, Partisanship, and Foreign Policy Analysis." 243-66. Powell, Richard. 1993. "Guns, Butter, and Anarchy." 87(1): 115-32. Sullivan, Patricia L., Brock F . Tessman and Xiaojun Li 2011. “U.S. Military Aid and Cooperation Among Recipient States” 7: 275-94. Taydas, Zeynep, Cigdem Kentmen, and Laura R. Olson 2012. “Faith Matters: Religious Affiliation and Public Opinion on Foreign Policy.” by Barack Obama. and the "Greater" Middle East." Social Science Quarterly 93 (5): 1218-42.