Dobson, Melina J. (2019) Unauthorised disclosures: US national security whistleblowers and leakers, 1970-2017. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

In the last decade, individuals such as Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden have arguably dominated public debate on leaked information. The terms ‘whistleblower’ and ‘leaker’ are often used interchangeably in the media to describe such individuals. Broadly, they have made an unauthorised disclosure of classified information. However, this does not represent a full picture of the enormous complexity that past cases have constituted. Utilising the dominant cases in the US that have been reported in the media between 1970 and 2017, this thesis aims to explore the impact of whistleblowers and leakers, both on the changes in legislation or policy they may have affected and also on their own lives. In order to achieve this objective, the terms whistleblower and leaker in the context of revealing classified information will be examined. Accordingly, the main body of this thesis analyses how legal definitions have been distorted in the public narrative, both by the state and the media and resulted in a variety of interpretations with potentially life altering consequences.

In exploring the path taken by a whistleblower or leaker, the thesis deploys a new agency-structure model that offers a linear typology of the three stages potential whistleblowers will pass through when exposing wrongdoing. I have termed these three stages – (1) potential whistleblower, (2) the disclosure and (3) the aftermath. This framework has been adopted in order to illuminate the moral and practical issues that are faced by potential whistleblower, as well as the potential consequences that they face. Drawing on different disciplines to gain an insight into the personal burden and choices made in each case, this thesis investigates the possibility that western governments have sought to securitise the leaker. By portraying them as the enemy of the state, the integrity of the disclosure is more readily questioned. Finally, the thesis seeks to provide normative conclusions with suggestions for an improved approach to national security whistleblowers and leakers.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare K Law [LC] > KF United States Federal Law
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Whistle blowing -- Government policy -- United States, Whistle blowing -- Law and legislation -- United States, Whistle blowing -- United States -- History, Leaks (Disclosure of information)
Official Date:	January 2019
Dates:	Date Event January 2019 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Politics and International Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Aldrich, Richard J. (Richard James), 1961- ; Moran, Christopher R.
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	366 leaves
Language:	eng

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