Democracy in the dark : the seduction of government secrecy

"From Dick Cheney's man-sized safe to NSA's massive intelligence gathering, secrecy has captured the American government's modus operandi better than the ideals of the Constitution. In this important new book, Fritz Schwarz, who was chief counsel to the U.S. Church Committee on Intelligence-which uncovered CIA plots to assassinate world leaders, including Fidel Castro's exploding cigar-uses examples ranging from the dropping of the first Atomic bomb, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to Iran Contra and 9/11 to illuminate this central question: How much secrecy does good governance require? Schwarz argues that while some control of information is necessary, governments tend to fall prey to a culture of secrecy that is ultimately not just hazardous to democracy but antithetical to it. This historical survey provides the essential context to understand recent cases from Chelsea Manning to Edward Snowden. Democracy in the Dark is a natural companion to Schwarz's Unchecked and Unbalanced, co-written with Aziz Huq, which plumbed the power of the executive branch-a power that often depends on and derives from the use of secrecy. "-- Provided by publisher. Read more... Abstract: "From Dick Cheney's man-sized safe to NSA's massive intelligence gathering, secrecy has captured the American government's modus operandi better than the ideals of the Constitution. In this important new book, Fritz Schwarz, who was chief counsel to the U.S. Church Committee on Intelligence-which uncovered CIA plots to assassinate world leaders, including Fidel Castro's exploding cigar-uses examples ranging from the dropping of the first Atomic bomb, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to Iran Contra and 9/11 to illuminate this central question: How much secrecy does good governance require? Schwarz argues that while some control of information is necessary, governments tend to fall prey to a culture of secrecy that is ultimately not just hazardous to democracy but antithetical to it. This historical survey provides the essential context to understand recent cases from Chelsea Manning to Edward Snowden. Democracy in the Dark is a natural companion to Schwarz's Unchecked and Unbalanced, co-written with Aziz Huq, which plumbed the power of the executive branch-a power that often depends on and derives from the use of secrecy. "-- Provided by publisher “A timely and provocative book exploring the origins of the national security state and the urgent challenge of reining it in” ( The Washington Post ). From Dick Cheney’s man-sized safe to the National Security Agency’s massive intelligence gathering, secrecy has too often captured the American government’s modus operandi better than the ideals of the Constitution. In this important book, Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., who was chief counsel to the US Church Committee on Intelligence—which uncovered the FBI’s effort to push Martin Luther King Jr. to commit suicide; the CIA’s enlistment of the Mafia to try to kill Fidel Castro; and the NSA’s thirty-year program to get copies of all telegrams leaving the United States—uses examples ranging from the dropping of the first atomic bomb and the Cuban Missile Crisis to Iran–Contra and 9/11 to illuminate this central question: How much secrecy does good governance require? Schwarz argues that while some control of information is necessary, governments tend to fall prey to a culture of secrecy that is ultimately not just hazardous to democracy but antithetical to it. This history provides the essential context to recent cases from Chelsea Manning to Edward Snowden. Democracy in the Dark is a natural companion to Schwarz’s Unchecked and Unbalanced , cowritten with Aziz Huq, which plumbed the power of the executive branch—a power that often depends on and derives from the use of secrecy. “[An] important new book . . . Carefully researched, engagingly written stories of government secrecy gone amiss.” — The American Prospect

"A timely and provocative book exploring the origins of the national security state and the urgent challenge of reining it in" ( The Washington Post ). From Dick Cheney's man-sized safe to the National Security Agency's massive intelligence gathering, secrecy has too often captured the American government's modus operandi better than the ideals of the Constitution. In this important book, Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., who was chief counsel to the US Church Committee on Intelligence—which uncovered the FBI's effort to push Martin Luther King Jr. to commit suicide; the CIA's enlistment of the Mafia to try to kill Fidel Castro; and the NSA's thirty-year program to get copies of all telegrams leaving the United States—uses examples ranging from the dropping of the first atomic bomb and the Cuban Missile Crisis to Iran–Contra and 9/11 to illuminate this central question: How much secrecy does good governance require? Schwarz argues that while some control of information is necessary, governments tend to fall prey to a culture of secrecy that is ultimately not just hazardous to democracy but antithetical to it. This history provides the essential context to recent cases from Chelsea Manning to Edward Snowden. Democracy in the Dark is a natural companion to Schwarz's Unchecked and Unbalanced, cowritten with Aziz Huq, which plumbed the power of the executive branch—a power that often depends on and derives from the use of secrecy. "[An] important new book... Carefully researched, engagingly written stories of government secrecy gone amiss." — The American Prospect

"From Dick Cheney's man-sized safe to NSA's massive intelligence gathering, secrecy has captured the American government's modus operandi better than the ideals of the Constitution. In this important new book, Fritz Schwarz, who was chief counsel to the U.S. Church Committee on Intelligence-which uncovered CIA plots to assassinate world leaders, including Fidel Castro's exploding cigar-uses examples ranging from the dropping of the first Atomic bomb, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to Iran Contra and 9/11 to illuminate this central question: How much secrecy does good governance require? Schwarz argues that while some control of information is necessary, governments tend to fall prey to a culture of secrecy that is ultimately not just hazardous to democracy but antithetical to it. This historical survey provides the essential context to understand recent cases from Chelsea Manning to Edward Snowden. Democracy in the Dark is a natural companion to Schwarz's Unchecked and Unbalanced, co-written with Aziz Huq, which plumbed the power of the executive branch-a power that often depends on and derives from the use of secrecy."-- Résumé de l'éditeur From Dick Cheney's man-sized safe to the National Security Agency's massive intelligence gathering, secrecy has too often captured the American government's modus operandi better than the ideals of the Constitution. In this important new book, Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., who was chief counsel to the U.S. Church Committee on Intelligence—which uncovered the FBI's effort to push Martin Luther King to commit suicide; the CIA's enlistment of the Mafia to try to kill Fidel Castro; and the NSA's thirty-year program to get copies of all telegrams leaving the United States—uses examples ranging from the dropping of the first atomic bomb and the Cuban Missile Crisis to Iran Contra and 9/11 to illuminate this central question: how much secrecy does good governance require? Schwarz argues that while some control of information is necessary, governments tend to fall prey to a culture of secrecy that is ultimately not just hazardous to democracy but antithetical to it. This... "From Dick Cheney's man-sized safe to NSA's massive intelligence gathering, secrecy has captured the American government's modus operandi better than the ideals of the Constitution. In this new book, Fritz Schwarz, who was chief counsel to the U.S. Church Committee on Intelligence- which uncovered CIA plots to assassinate world leaders, including Fidel Castro's exploding cigar- uses examples ranging from the dropping of the first Atomic bomb, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to Iran Contra and 9/11 to illuminate this central question: How much secrecy does good governance require? Schwarz argues that while some control of information is necessary, governments tend to fall prey to a culture of secrecy that is ultimately not just hazardous to democracy but antithetical to it." -- Content: From the Garden of Eden to America's founding -- More openness to more secrecy : America from the founding to the secrecy era -- Appropriate secrecy and its limits : 9/11, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and where to drop the first atomic bomb -- Building power through secrecy : J. Edgar Hoover and Dick Cheney -- Six secrecy stories : from slavery to science -- Cultures of secrecy -- The seduction of secrecy -- Leaks, investigative journalism, and nonprofit watchdogs -- Congress I : investigation and oversight -- Congress II : the Freedom of Information Act -- The courts and secrecy -- Author's note: Personal encounters with secrecy.