Overview
- Combines political theory and empirical analysis of executive secrecy’s place in democratic systems
- Addresses inherent challenges faced by parliamentary democracies when it comes to enclosing executive secrecy
- Focuses on two case studies on subjects of academic and public interest
Part of the book series: New Perspectives in German Political Studies (NPG)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (6 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
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.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Dorothee Riese is a political scientist currently working at Fernuniversität Hagen after appointments at Leipzig University and Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands. She studied at Leipzig University and Sciences Po Paris and obtained her PhD from Leiden University. Dorothee is the 2017 Rudolf-Wildenmann-Prize winner for a paper on Public Private Partnership secrecy.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Executive Secrecy and Democratic Politics
Book Subtitle: Arguments and Practices in the German Bundestag
Authors: Dorothee Riese
Series Title: New Perspectives in German Political Studies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30605-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-30604-4Published: 27 May 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-30607-5Due: 27 June 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-30605-1Published: 26 May 2023
Series ISSN: 2947-6747
Series E-ISSN: 2947-6755
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 194
Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations
Topics: European Politics, Legislative and Executive Politics