The correct answer to this open question is the following.
You did not include the excerpt, the text, or another reference. Without the excerpt, it is not possible to answer your question. We do not know what you are referring to.
However, trying to help you, we did some research and can comment on the following.
The continuities in United States history that is best demonstrated by the excerpt is the debate over the balance of liberty and order.
This has been a long debate over recent years in American history. Indeed, the Bill of rights that is the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, contemplated this situation and gave the US citizens some clear rights. We are talking about the 2nd Amendment that protects teh American people right to have guns in their homes for their protection, the 4th Amendment that protects the American's right from an unreasonable search of their homes and belongings, and the 8th Amendment that protects the citizens from excessive punishment.
So at different times, the government has confronted the citizens regarding the issue of liberties, rights, and obligations, for example, in the case of war time.
