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Home > Society and Social Sciences > Politics and government > Political structure and processes > Secrecy in the Sunshine Era: The Promise and Failures of U.S. Open Government Laws
Secrecy in the Sunshine Era: The Promise and Failures of U.S. Open Government Laws

Secrecy in the Sunshine Era: The Promise and Failures of U.S. Open Government Laws


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About the Book

A series of laws passed in the 1970s promised the nation unprecedented transparency in government, a veritable ""sunshine era."" Though citizens enjoyed a new arsenal of secrecy-busting tools, officials developed a handy set of workarounds, from over classification to concealment, shredding, and burning. It is this dark side of the sunshine era that Jason Ross Arnold explores in the first comprehensive, comparative history of presidential resistance to the new legal regime, from Reagan-Bush to the first term of Obama-Biden. After examining what makes a necessary and unnecessary secret, Arnold considers the causes of excessive secrecy, and why we observe variation across administrations. While some administrations deserve the scorn of critics for exceptional secrecy, the book shows excessive secrecy was a persistent problem well before 9/11, during Democratic and Republican administrations alike. Regardless of party, administrations have consistently worked to weaken the system's legal foundations. The book reveals episode after episode of evasive maneuvers, rule bending, clever rhetorical gambits, and downright defiance; an army of secrecy workers in a dizzying array of institutions labels all manner of documents ""top secret,"" while other government workers and agencies manage to suppress information with a ""sensitive but unclassified"" designation. For example, the health effects of Agent Orange, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria leaking out of Midwestern hog farms are considered too ""sensitive"" for public consumption. These examples and many more document how vast the secrecy system has grown during the sunshine era. Rife with stories of vital scientific evidence withheld, justice eluded, legalities circumvented, and the public interest flouted, Secrecy in the Sunshine Era reveals how our information society has been kept in the dark in too many ways and for too long.

About the Author :
Jason Ross Arnold is assistant professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. He has previously published articles on public ignorance, corruption, and public opinion.

Review :
"Jason Ross Arnold's encyclopedic book on how presidents from Reagan to Obama responded to their obligations under [the sunshine] statutes makes for illuminating, if depressing, reading."--The Historian "In Secrecy in the Sunshine Era, Arnold has created an intriguing mix of comprehensive research, eye-opening stories, and comparative analysis that should appeal to readers interested in open government, national security, constitutional law, and presidential history."--Law Library Journal ". . . this book will be the foundational text for understanding governmental secrecy in the modern era."--Journal of American History "A foundational book."--hearsayculture.com "Secrecy in the Sunshine Era does a fantastic job of documenting the great lengths to which presidents will go to guard their secrets and thereby preserve their power."--Boston Review "Arnold details the extent to which administrations since the adoption of sunshine legislation have worked, not so quietly, to find ways around those laws."--Choice "Arnold's powerful analysis of the unanticipated consequences of sunshine era legislation, from Reagan-Bush through Obama-Biden, is a must-read for anyone interested in current debates about transparency and accountability."--Katherine Scott, Ph.D., author of Reining in the State: Civil Society and Congress in the Vietnam and Watergate Eras "It's high time a scholar of Jason Ross Arnold's caliber peels back the excuses to reveal the excesses of secrecy. I may not agree with his every word, but I feel safe saying that national security would not suffer one bit if Arnold's reasonable proposals were adopted."--David C. Gompert, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence "A timely, important study on the dilemmas of government secrecy practices in a democratic republic that is predicated on openness and accountability. The analysis is original and convincing and I highly commend it to scholars, policy professionals, and citizens alike."--Mark J. Rozell, author of Executive Privilege: Presidential Power, Secrecy, and Accountability


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780700619924
  • Publisher: University Press of Kansas
  • Publisher Imprint: University Press of Kansas
  • Height: 233 mm
  • No of Pages: 600
  • Spine Width: 38 mm
  • Weight: 1019 gr
  • ISBN-10: 0700619925
  • Publisher Date: 25 Aug 2014
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: Y
  • Sub Title: The Promise and Failures of U.S. Open Government Laws
  • Width: 160 mm


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