Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
Numerous allegations of abuse of power have been made against the domestic security intelligence agencies in the United Kingdom such as police special branches and MI5. These include the improper surveillance of trade unionists and peace activists, campaigns of mis-information against elected politicians and even the elimination' of people believed to be engaged in political violence. Drawing on extensive foreign material and making use of the social science concepts of information, power and law, this book develops a framework for the comparative analysis of these agencies.Synopsis
Numerous allegations of abuse of power have been made against the domestic security intelligence agencies in the UK - police special branches and MI5. These include the improper surveillance of trades unionists and peace activists, campaigns of disinformation against elected politicians and the summary shooting of people believed to be engaged in political violence. Although far-reaching enquiries have been conducted into similar agencies in other liberal democracies, and the end of the Cold War has brought dramatic change to security agencies in Eastern Europe, the UK agencies have remained aloof from anything more than marginal organizational change.
Peter Gill develops a framework for the comparative analysis of security agencies, discussing what is known about the operations of security intelligence agencies in liberal democracies and, second, an agenda for research into the UK agencies, including: the ambitious nature of their mandate regarding "national security", "subversion" and "terrorism"; the ways in which the agencies penetrate society and what they do with the information they gather; internal organizational questions such as recruitment and culture; the extent to which the agencies are controlled by ministers; and how the agencies' activities might be overseen by outside political bodies such as parliamentary committees and by citizens in general.
Concluding that not enough is known about how these agencies operate in the UK, the book argues the need for a thorough enquiry to investigate allegations, and to make proposals for a more democratic system of security intelligence.
Booknews
Numerous allegations of abuse of power have been made against the domestic security intelligence agencies in the UK--police special branches and MI5--which have, however, remained aloof from anything more than marginal organizational change. Drawing on extensive foreign material and making use of the social science concepts of information, power, and law, this volume develops a framework for the comparative analysis of these agencies. This provides, first, a systematic discussion of what is known about the operations of security intelligence agencies in liberal democracies and, second, an agenda for research into the UK agencies. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)