This book investigates the parliamentary negotiation of executive secrecy. Parliaments depend on information to fulfil their roles as the people’s representatives, legislators and overseers of the executive. However, there are examples of executive secrecy across all policy fields. How, then, do parliamentary actors try to reconcile secrecy and the normative demands of an open, democratic society? This volume analyses parliamentary arguments, conflicts and patterns of agreement around this topic in the case of Germany. Based on two case studies – intelligence agencies secrecy and Public Private Partnership secrecy – it argues that substantive justifications of secrecy focusing on necessity are highly contested. By contrast, procedural legitimation of secrecy, namely deciding about it democratically, is crucial. Still, there are inherent limits to the legitimation of executive secrecy. The book therefore underlines the fragility of secrecy’s legitimation, and its need for constant actualisation.
Author(s): Dorothee Riese
Series: New Perspectives in German Political Studies
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 203
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction: Executive Secrecy and Democratic Politics
References
2 Theorising and Studying Democratic Secrecy
From Arcana Imperii to Publicity
Substantive Legitimation of Executive Secrecy
Quality of the Decision-Making Process
Quality of Outcome: Effective and Efficient Decisions
Third-Party Interests
Procedural Legitimation of Executive Secrecy
How to Study Secrecy? A Research Framework for Investigating Its Legitimation
References
3 Legitimising Intelligence Agency Secrecy
Substantive Legitimation: Controversies Concerning Secrecy’s Benefit for Security
Security
International Cooperation and Third-Party Interests
Securing Separation of Powers: The Kernbereich Argument
Patterns of Debating Secrecy
Ideological Conflict Lines
Conflict Lines Along Institutional Roles
Legislation as Procedural Legitimation
Secrecy Legislation as a Source of Legitimacy and Its Conditions
Opposition Support for Legislation as a Source of Procedural Legitimation
Parliamentary Scrutiny as Procedural Legitimation
Access to Information
Human Resources
Sanctioning Power
Opposition Rights
Intelligence Secrecy—Between Substantive Contestation and Procedural Enclosure
References
4 Legitimising Public–Private Partnerships Secrecy
Economic Interests as Substantive Legitimation of PPP Secrecy
Trade and Business Secrets
Fiscal Interests of the State
Kernbereich Secrecy
Patterns of Debating Secrecy
Ideological Conflict Lines
Conflict Lines Along Institutional Roles
Limited Procedural Legitimation Through Legislation
Fragmented Parliamentary Scrutiny
Public Private Partnership Secrecy—In Want of Procedural Enclosure
References
5 Patterns and Limits of Legitimising Executive Secrecy
Comparing Substantive Legitimation of Executive Secrecy
General Patterns
Partisan Conflicts
Conflicts Based on Parliamentary Roles
Missing Agreement on Substantive Legitimation
A Matter of Democratic Practice–Procedural Legitimation of Executive Secrecy
Legislation: Making Rules on Secrecy and Secret Action
Parliamentary Scrutiny: Detecting Transgressions
Why Procedural Legitimation Does Not Solve All Problems of Executive Secrecy—Structural Limits of Parliamentary Legitimation
The Problem of Executive Compliance
Reluctance to Legislate
The Problem of Information Control
The Paradox of Publicity as a Sanctioning Power
Key Findings on Secrecy and Its Legitimation
References
6 Avenues for Research and Political Practice
Starting Points for Further Research
International Comparison of Secrecy Cultures and Frameworks
Comparison Across Multiple Policy Fields
Day-to-Day Executive Practices
Democratic Scrutiny Beyond Parliament
Potential Consequences for Political Practice
Setting Up Proxy-Monitoring Frameworks
Solving the Third-Party Problem: Contractual Implications
Democratic Discourse on Secrecy as Prerequisite of Legitimising Secrecy
References
Annexes
Annex 1: List of Motions in the Intelligence Agencies Case
Annex 2: Interview Guideline
Interview Guideline Overview
Example Guideline
Annex 3: Use of Different Mechanisms of Parliamentary Scrutiny 1998–2013
