BLACKED OUT: GOVERNMENT SECRECY IN THE INFORMATION AGE

Vol. 16 No. 7 (July, 2006) pp.533-535

BLACKED OUT: GOVERNMENT SECRECY IN THE INFORMATION AGE, by Alasdair Roberts. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 334pp. Cloth $30.00 £20.00. ISBN: 0521858704. eBook. $24.00. ISBN: 0511134177.

Reviewed by Daniel Hoffman, Johnson C. Smith University. E-mail: DHOFFMAN [at] JCSU.edu.

This outstanding study of governmental secrecy has several conspicuous virtues. First, it is comparative in scope. Second, it pays careful attention to both the legal details of policy and the political realities of implementation. Third, the analysis is thorough and balanced, acknowledging the costs and benefits of secrecy to a wide variety of actors inside and outside government. Finally, the book is well-written and, despite its modest length, packed with fascinating information. The author, Alasdair Roberts, teaches at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and directs the Campbell Institute of Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Chapter One gives an overview of the spread of Right to Information laws around much of the world in the last twenty five years, commenting on the forces driving this groundswell, as well as on its limitations. Chapter Two focuses on the special case of security agencies and their determined resistance to demands for greater transparency, as it has played out in various countries.

Chapter Three, titled “Regime Change,” focuses on the Bush administration’s hostility to post-Watergate legal reforms and political trends. Although “there were many areas in which the Bush administration did succeed in rolling back openness” (p.80), the chapter concludes that wholesale dismantling of those reforms has become politically impossible, and that the willingness and ability of officials to leak sensitive information are greater than ever. Chapter Four focuses on Britain and other Anglophone parliamentary democracies. In each case, early enthusiasm for transparency produced practical challenges for politicians and bureaucrats, which in turn led to varied forms of resistance. Outcomes varied with political context, leadership attitudes and institutional arrangements. Chapter Five, “Soft States,” recounts the spread of Right to Information laws in recent years to poorer, less stable countries of the former Soviet bloc and Third World. These states are less endowed with the technological, administrative and civic capacities for wide disclosure, as well as sometimes weaker commitment to democratic forms of politics. The reforms’ impact, especially in the Third World, thus largely remains to be seen.

Studies of secrecy typically look at one agency or one nation at a time. The next three chapters go beyond this practice. Chapter Six examines international intelligence-sharing networks and how members of such networks negotiate shared disclosure guidelines. The most salient phenomenon here is the insistence of the United States on tighter restrictions by NATO members and other US allies than many had initially [*534] provided for. By the same token, post-9/11 reforms designed to improve intelligence sharing among US homeland security agencies have forced some acceptance of new restrictions on disclosure of shared information. “Unfortunately, conventional open government laws will do little to reveal what information was available to decision makers in a particular jurisdiction” (p.148). In a related vein, Chapter Seven explores the consequences of the fact that Right to Information laws generally apply only to government agencies, while, under the banner of privatization, politically important work is often performed by private corporations. Even the contracts providing guidelines for such work are not always publicly available. Diverse examples of problems arising in the United States and elsewhere are provided. The chapter sympathetically discusses the unique South African provision that gives access to any information held by any person or organization, whether public or private, if the information is “required for the exercise or protection of any rights” (p.163). Roberts acknowledges, however, the political difficulties facing those who might advocate similar measures in other countries. Chapter Eight examines the role of supranational institutions such as the European Union, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Each has experienced conflict and evolved its own policies regarding disclosure. Roberts concludes that “transparency can be employed as a tool by different players for dramatically different purposes” (p.194). In battles over globalization, for example, transparency can benefit the strong at the expense of the weak.

Chapter Nine explores new information technologies’ impact on the volume and accessibility of information. Digitized databases present novel opportunities and problems, including heightened concerns for personal privacy. Policies in this area are very much a work in progress. The sheer volume of paperless information, such as e-mail, is staggering. It is estimated that in 2002, U.S. federal employees exchanged thirty-seven billion messages (p.213) Searching for key information in such a sea is laborious and expensive. Government agencies seek more efficient ways to manage their own records, but often resist outsiders’ efforts to take advantage of the new techniques to learn more about what records the agency has.

The final chapter steps back to reflect on the stock story of secrecy and disclosure in American politics. That story follows this pattern: abuse of power – attempted coverup – hard won disclosure – outrage – punishment and reform. Roberts cites the Abu Ghraib scandal to illustrate his concern that in recent years, outrage has not necessarily been followed by remedial action. In the face of widespread political alienation, transparency is not enough to ensure accountability.

Despite the demonstrated impact of political forces and informal arrangements, this reviewer can testify with some assurance that written rules do matter. I once worked on a study of the classification system that included [*535] specific reform recommendations (Halperin and Hoffman 1977). Certain of those recommendations were later adopted in an executive order issued by the Carter administration. I had some doubts about the real impact of these reforms – until President Reagan’s very first executive order repealed them. Technologies, structures, personalities and issues change, but the problem of secrecy is not new (Hoffman 1981) and will not go away.

BLACKED OUT could have a valuable place in a variety of courses, since it has implications for studies of political communications, bureaucracy, the presidency, comparative politics, and democratic theory. Limitations worth noting include historical scope: it begins with the advent of Right to Information laws in the 1960s, and does not include the recent controversies over domestic spying, data mining and so forth. In addition, the number of topics and examples mean that the information given on some of them is relatively scanty. But the book is superbly documented, with sixty two pages of endnotes for those wishing to explore further.

REFERENCES:

Halperin, Morton and Hoffman, Daniel. 1977. TOP SECRET: NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE RIGHT TO KNOW. Washington DC: New Republic Books.

Hoffman, Daniel. 1981. GOVERNMENTAL SECRECY AND THE FOUNDING FATHERS: A STUDY IN CONSTITUTIONAL CONTROLS. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

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