The Library
The last forum of accountability? State secrecy, intelligence and freedom of information in the United Kingdom
Tools
Dobson, Melina J. (2019) The last forum of accountability? State secrecy, intelligence and freedom of information in the United Kingdom. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 21 (2). pp. 312-329. doi:10.1177/1369148118806125 ISSN 1369-1481.
|
PDF
WRAP-last-forum-accountability-state-secrecy-freedom-Dobson-2019.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (752Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1369148118806125
Abstract
The official mechanisms of intelligence oversight and accountability in the United Kingdom are arguably disjointed and ineffective. Thus, informal actors such as journalists, have played a more significant role. In addition, a rise of whistleblowers and leakers, such as Chelsea Manning, have highlighted the importance of online archives as an avenue for accountability. The United Kingdom is legally bound to place official documents on the public record at the National Archives. Sensitive material on intelligence and other security subjects majorly impedes the bulk release of documents. Inevitably, the inclination to ‘weed’ sensitive material from mundane documents has resulted in a costly declassification process. Evidence suggests that historians successfully investigated these subjects through the use of archives, despite the efforts of officials to obfuscate. This article argues that historians increasingly constitute the last forum of accountability and that routine declassification is an important, but neglected aspect of our machinery of intelligence oversight.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) | ||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Intelligence service -- Government policy, Legislative oversight, Freedom of information -- Great Britain, National security, Government accountability | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | The British Journal of Politics and International Relations | ||||||||
Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||||||
ISSN: | 1369-1481 | ||||||||
Official Date: | 1 May 2019 | ||||||||
Dates: |
|
||||||||
Volume: | 21 | ||||||||
Number: | 2 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 312-329 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1177/1369148118806125 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | Dobson, M. J. (2019). The last forum of accountability? State secrecy, intelligence and freedom of information in the United Kingdom. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148118806125 Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148118806125 | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 5 March 2019 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 5 March 2019 |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year