From radical contention to deference: A sociogenesis of intelligence oversight in the United States (1967-1981)

By looking at the seminal case of the US, this chapter frames intelligence oversight mechanisms as a way of governing anti-surveillance advocacy. Using various archival sources including declassified memos, it proceeds in three steps to outline a now traditional script in the unfolding and management of intelligence scandals and associated reforms. First, it shows how, from the mid-1960s on, the field of intelligence expanded the political espionage of the New Left by resorting to controversial and illegal methods as well as new technologies. Second, it turns to a series of surveillance scandals unleashed over that period, showing how radical denunciations of intelligence and digital surveillance gained traction across multiple fields, thus reducing the autonomy of intelligence agencies. Third, it examines how, after the congressional inquiries launched in 1975, ensuing reforms ended up protecting the intelligence field from its most effective critiques while depoliticising oversight by confining it to technical issues.