Today's Article
'Secrecy is the bane
of democracy
because it is the
enemy of
accountability,'
wrote Arthur
Schlesinger, Jr.
of democracy
because it is the
enemy of
accountability,'
wrote Arthur
Schlesinger, Jr.
The American Spark
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Bush Secrecy Produces 'Decisions Without Democracy'
By Cliff Montgomery - Aug. 2nd, 2007
A fascinating report jointly produced by OpenTheGovernment.org and People For The American Way
Foundation entitled, "Government Secrecy: Decisions Without Democracy", was released in July 2007.
Its introduction includes a re-printed preface to the 1987 edition, written by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., a Pulitzer
Prize-winning historian and former aide to President Kennedy.
Though writing about the Reagan Presidency, Schlesinger's words are even more valid today:
"Secrecy is the bane of democracy because it is the enemy of accountability. The framers of the American
Constitution designed a system of government intended to bring power and accountability into balance.
"The secrecy system, as it has been nurtured by the executive branch over the last forty years and with special
zeal over the last seven years, is the indispensable ally and instrument of the Imperial Presidency.
"Now no one can question the right of the state to keep certain things secret. Weapons technology and
deployment, diplomatic negotiations, intelligence methods and sources, and military contingency plans are
among the areas where secrecy is entirely defensible.
"Secrecy is defensible too in certain domestic areas: personal data given the government on the presumption
it would be kept confidential--tax returns, personnel investigations and the like; and official decisions that, if
prematurely disclosed, would lead to speculation in land or commodities, preemptive buying, higher
governmental costs and private enrichment.
"But the contemporary state has extended the secrecy system far beyond its legitimate bounds. In doing so,
the target is far less to prevent the disclosure of information to enemy governments than to prevent the
disclosure of information to the American Congress, press and people.
"For governments have discovered that secrecy is a source of power and an efficient way of covering up the
embarrassments, blunders, follies and crimes of the ruling regime.
"When governments claim that a broad secrecy mandate is essential to protect national security, they mostly
mean that it is essential to protect the political interests of the administration. The harm to national security
through breaches of secrecy is always exaggerated.
"The secrecy system has been breached since the beginning of the republic--from the day in 1795 when
Senator Mason of Virginia enraged President Washington by giving the secret text of Jay’s Treaty to the
Philadelphia Aurora, or the day in 1844 when Senator Tappan of Ohio enraged President Tyler by giving the
secret text of the treaty annexing Texas to the New York Evening Post.
"No one has ever demonstrated that such leaks, or the publication of the Pentagon Papers either, harmed
national security. No one can doubt that these disclosures benefited the democratic process.
"The republic has survived great crises--the War of 1812, the Civil War, the First and Second World War--
without erecting the suffocating structure of secrecy the Reagan administration proposes today. One wonders
what greater crisis justifies the extreme measures taken and contemplated by the Reagan administration since
1981.
"The consequences for American democracy of the cult of secrecy may be dire. For the secrecy system not
only safeguards the executive branch from accountability for its incompetence and its venality. Worse, it
emboldens the state to undertake rash and mindless adventures, as the Iran-contra scandal sadly reminds us.
“ 'Though secrecy in diplomacy is occasionally unavoidable,' wrote James Bryce, who was not only an acute
student of comparative government but also a distinguished diplomat, 'it has its perils...Publicity may cause
some losses, but may avert some misfortunes.'
"Perhaps President Reagan will one day regret that the press had not exposed his secret intentions toward
Iran in time to block his ill-considered policy, as President Kennedy regretted that the New York Times had not
played up its story on the exile invasion of Cuba. 'If you had printed more about the operation,' he told a Times
editor, 'you would have saved us from a colossal mistake.'
"Because the secrecy system is controlled by those on whom it bestows prestige and protection, it has long
since overridden its legitimate objectives. The religion of secrecy has become an all-purpose means by which
the American Presidency seeks to dissemble its purposes, bury its mistakes, manipulate its citizens and
maximize its power.
"This People For the American Way report...is a meticulous and dispassionate account of the growth and
widening reach of the secrecy system and of the danger it poses to American democracy. It is not too late for
Congress to bring the secrecy system under control and redress the balance between presidential power and
presidential accountability.
"The issue is hardly new.
“ 'Executive secrecy,' John Taylor of Caroline, the philosopher of Jeffersonian democracy, wrote in 1814, 'is one
of the monarchial customs, plausibly defended, and certainly fatal to republican government...How can national
self government exist without a knowledge of national affairs? or how can legislatures be wise or independent,
who legislate in the dark upon the recommendation of one man?' ”
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark e-
newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
By Cliff Montgomery - Aug. 2nd, 2007
A fascinating report jointly produced by OpenTheGovernment.org and People For The American Way
Foundation entitled, "Government Secrecy: Decisions Without Democracy", was released in July 2007.
Its introduction includes a re-printed preface to the 1987 edition, written by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., a Pulitzer
Prize-winning historian and former aide to President Kennedy.
Though writing about the Reagan Presidency, Schlesinger's words are even more valid today:
"Secrecy is the bane of democracy because it is the enemy of accountability. The framers of the American
Constitution designed a system of government intended to bring power and accountability into balance.
"The secrecy system, as it has been nurtured by the executive branch over the last forty years and with special
zeal over the last seven years, is the indispensable ally and instrument of the Imperial Presidency.
"Now no one can question the right of the state to keep certain things secret. Weapons technology and
deployment, diplomatic negotiations, intelligence methods and sources, and military contingency plans are
among the areas where secrecy is entirely defensible.
"Secrecy is defensible too in certain domestic areas: personal data given the government on the presumption
it would be kept confidential--tax returns, personnel investigations and the like; and official decisions that, if
prematurely disclosed, would lead to speculation in land or commodities, preemptive buying, higher
governmental costs and private enrichment.
"But the contemporary state has extended the secrecy system far beyond its legitimate bounds. In doing so,
the target is far less to prevent the disclosure of information to enemy governments than to prevent the
disclosure of information to the American Congress, press and people.
"For governments have discovered that secrecy is a source of power and an efficient way of covering up the
embarrassments, blunders, follies and crimes of the ruling regime.
"When governments claim that a broad secrecy mandate is essential to protect national security, they mostly
mean that it is essential to protect the political interests of the administration. The harm to national security
through breaches of secrecy is always exaggerated.
"The secrecy system has been breached since the beginning of the republic--from the day in 1795 when
Senator Mason of Virginia enraged President Washington by giving the secret text of Jay’s Treaty to the
Philadelphia Aurora, or the day in 1844 when Senator Tappan of Ohio enraged President Tyler by giving the
secret text of the treaty annexing Texas to the New York Evening Post.
"No one has ever demonstrated that such leaks, or the publication of the Pentagon Papers either, harmed
national security. No one can doubt that these disclosures benefited the democratic process.
"The republic has survived great crises--the War of 1812, the Civil War, the First and Second World War--
without erecting the suffocating structure of secrecy the Reagan administration proposes today. One wonders
what greater crisis justifies the extreme measures taken and contemplated by the Reagan administration since
1981.
"The consequences for American democracy of the cult of secrecy may be dire. For the secrecy system not
only safeguards the executive branch from accountability for its incompetence and its venality. Worse, it
emboldens the state to undertake rash and mindless adventures, as the Iran-contra scandal sadly reminds us.
“ 'Though secrecy in diplomacy is occasionally unavoidable,' wrote James Bryce, who was not only an acute
student of comparative government but also a distinguished diplomat, 'it has its perils...Publicity may cause
some losses, but may avert some misfortunes.'
"Perhaps President Reagan will one day regret that the press had not exposed his secret intentions toward
Iran in time to block his ill-considered policy, as President Kennedy regretted that the New York Times had not
played up its story on the exile invasion of Cuba. 'If you had printed more about the operation,' he told a Times
editor, 'you would have saved us from a colossal mistake.'
"Because the secrecy system is controlled by those on whom it bestows prestige and protection, it has long
since overridden its legitimate objectives. The religion of secrecy has become an all-purpose means by which
the American Presidency seeks to dissemble its purposes, bury its mistakes, manipulate its citizens and
maximize its power.
"This People For the American Way report...is a meticulous and dispassionate account of the growth and
widening reach of the secrecy system and of the danger it poses to American democracy. It is not too late for
Congress to bring the secrecy system under control and redress the balance between presidential power and
presidential accountability.
"The issue is hardly new.
“ 'Executive secrecy,' John Taylor of Caroline, the philosopher of Jeffersonian democracy, wrote in 1814, 'is one
of the monarchial customs, plausibly defended, and certainly fatal to republican government...How can national
self government exist without a knowledge of national affairs? or how can legislatures be wise or independent,
who legislate in the dark upon the recommendation of one man?' ”
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark e-
newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!