The construction, control and preservation of the Official Record is inherently contested. Those seeking greater openness and (democratic) accountability argue 'sunlight is [...] the best of disinfectants', while others seek stricter information control because, to their mind, sound government arises when advice and policy are formulated secretly. This edited volume explores the intersection of the Official Record, oversight, national security and democracy. Through US, UK and Canadian case studies, this volume will benefit higher level undergraduate readers and above to explore the Official Record in the context of the national security operations of democratic states. All chapters are research-based pieces of original writing that feature a document appendix containing primary documents (often excerpts) that are key to a chapter's narrative. As a result, this book interrogates the boundaries between national security, accountability, oversight, and the Official Record.
Table of Contents:
Preface: Defining and ‘Reading’ the Official Record - Peter Finn and Robert Ledger
Introduction: The Official Record, Oversight, National Security and Democracy - Peter Finn and Robert Ledger
1 ‘The Scarlet A’: assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11 - Luca Trenta
2 How public inquiries and scandals reshaped UK foreign and aid policy – Robert Ledger
3 Containing Hugo Chávez: insights from the WikiLeaks cables – RubrickBiegon
4 ‘Caveats were Down’: The Canadian Official Record and the treatment of Maher Arar – Peter Finn
5 Targeted Killing: The constitutionality of killing US citizens – Christine Sixta Rinehart
6 The Chilcot Inquiry: political-legal tensions in going to war and the art of the possible for the public record – Louise Kettle
7 ‘It’s Mueller Time’: The Mueller investigation, the Official Record, and the rule of law – Peter Finn
Afterword – Peter Finn and Robert Ledger
About the Author :
Peter Finn is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Criminology, Politics and Sociology at Kingston University.
Robert Ledger is a guest researcher at Goethe University Frankfurt.
Review :
'In March 2025, United States (US) based magazine, The Atlantic, published details of US government executives planning airstrikes on Houthi controlled areas of Yemen. Having been inadvertently added to a group on open source, encrypted chat platform, Signal, which included the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency Director, The Atlantic’s editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, revealed details of a policy making process that was arguably never intended to enter the official record, let alone the public or historical records... The Official Record: Oversight, national security and democracy is therefore an uncannily timely, as well as thoroughly researched and genuinely interesting, edited volume that details a variety of recent historical moments where the official, public and historical records have collided, overlapped or been confused from their usual, ordered existence.'
Tony Craig, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism
