Democratic Control and National Security Intelligence Services in the United States (1972-1980)

Abstract

This article delves into the vicissitudes of democratic control of government intelligence activities in the United States between 1972 and 1980. The previous phase of the Cold War (1947-1971), characterized by the intense systemic polarization between the United States and the Soviet Union, coupled with the expansion of state capacity and internal social conflicts within the US, contributed to the establishment of complex national systems of intelligence organizations and activities in both countries. In the 1970s, the strategic stabilization of US-USSR relations (détente) depended, in part, on the technological advancements in intelligence gathering from communications, signals, and imagery via satellites. Police and military surveillance of internal dissidents and the growing political crisis towards the end of the Nixon administration created the conditions for an unprecedented and consistent attempt to exert democratic external control over intelligence operations by the Legislative and Judiciary branches. The resurgence of the Cold War from 1980 onwards and the election of Reagan marked the beginning of a partial reversal of the controls. In less than a decade, a highly institutionalized democracy such as the US made great efforts and experienced difficulties regulating and controlling intelligence activities.