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The article looks at the electronic surveillance carried out by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), as of 2014. The authors present a case for the view that the NSA's mass surveillance of phone call and e-mail records contributes to national security and does not overly intrude on Americans' privacy rights. Topics include the information disclosures of former NSA contract employee Edward Snowden and the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment regarding search and seizure.

The article profiles Republican U.S. Representative Justin Amash, as of July 2013. It outlines his background and career, noting that he served in the Michigan state legislature before being elected to the U.S. Congress. It describes his political philosophy as libertarian, noting issues on which his views contradict those of a majority of U.S. Republican politicians, including U.S. government surveillance practices and gay marriage.

The article looks at the case of U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden, lauding the fact that he has been charged under the U.S. Espionage Act of 1917 and saying his actions were unjustified despite valid concerns about the U.S. government's secrecy concerning its mass surveillance programs.

Letters are presented from readers responding to articles published in previous issues including the "The Week" feature of the March 24, 2014 issue, and "A Defense of Bulk Surveillance" by John Yoo and Arthur Herman" from the April 7, 2014 issue.

The article presents a humorous discussion of the 2013 scandals over the collection of data on Americans' phone and Internet use by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and over actions by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in the form of a fictionalized series of emails, microblogs, and social network entries by an NSA contract employee assigned to read people's emails.

The author looks at the social and political views of young people in the U.S., as of 2013, focusing on supporters of U.S. President Barack Obama. He notes that young adults who say they value their privacy are not turning against Obama in the aftermath of the scandal over revelations of the collection of data on Americans' phone and Internet use by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), describing them as ignorant and hypocritical.

The article looks at the June 2013 episode in which information about the U.S. government programs which collect large volumes of data on telephone calls and Internet use in the U.S. was leaked to the press by Edward Snowden, an employee of a U.S. government contractor. It discusses concerns about the programs from a conservative perspective as well as ways in which the disclosure may harm the U.S.'s anti-terrorism efforts.

The article looks at the 2013 controversy over the U.S. government's mass surveillance and data mining policies. The author notes that the policies have the approval and oversight of all three branches of the government, executive, legislative, and judicial. He expresses the view that that is no guarantee against tyrannical actions by government, offering a historical example involving the prosecution of director Robert Goldstein over his film "The Spirit of '76" during the World War I era.