Sometimes the Western Governments test the waters during a crisis (or the threat of a crisis) to see if there is a public outcry.

Lots of people protested the Patriot Act and other post 9/11 stuff but the majority of people at the time were fine with it because it was to find the terrorists. Not sure if they ever found a terrorist on America soil but now we have TSA screens, Homeland Security, and a boat load of other extensions of federal power.