The FBI & American Democracy: A Brief Critical History (Hardcover)

~ Athan Theoharis (Author)
Key Phrases: illegal investigative techniques, central records system, bureau agents, Justice Department, United States, American Democracy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A short but amazingly comprehensive and up-to-date account."

Product Description

For nearly a century, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been famous for tracking and apprehending gangsters, kidnappers, spies, and, much more recently, international terrorists. The agency itself has done much to promote its successes, helping to embellish its legendary aura. Athan Theoharis, however, contends that a closer look at the historical record reveals a much less idealized and much more disturbing vision of the FBI.

Created in 1908 with a staff of three dozen, the FBI has grown to more than 27,000 agents and support personnel, while its role has shifted dramatically from law enforcement to intelligence operations. Theoharis, America's leading authority on the FBI, assesses the consequences of this shift for democratic politics, showing how the agency's obsession with absolute secrecy has undermined both civil liberties and agency accountability.

As Theoharis reveals, FBI history has been marked by operational failures, overrated abilities, and the frequent use of highly suspect means-wiretaps, buggings, break-ins-that challenge the Constitution's guarantee against illegal searches. The agency has also gathered and disseminated derogatory (and often untrue) information in an effort to discredit citizens whose views are seen as "dangerous." Most disturbing, it has drifted toward equating political dissent with genuine subversion, an approach with potentially grave consequences for free and open public discourse.

Theoharis also shows that the FBI's vaunted spy-catching prowess has been vastly overrated, from the early days of the "Communist conspiracy" to the more recent Wen Ho Lee and Robert Hanssen fiascos. And he criticizes Hoover's longstanding refusal to admit that organized crime actually existed, perhaps due to his preoccupation with the sex lives of public figures like JFK, Martin Luther King, and Rock Hudson, whose amorous escapades he recorded in his "Do Not File" files. More recently, the notorious incidents at Ruby Ridge, Waco, and Oklahoma City, as well as the 9/11 attacks, have further eroded public confidence in the FBI and tarnished its reputation.

Throughout, Theoharis raises serious questions about the extralegal nature of the FBI's activities and its troubling implications for the rule of law in America.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 195 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0700613455
• ISBN-13: 978-0700613458
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,103,987 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Summary of FBI History!, December 27, 2006

By	W. Houghton (Sequim, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As an FBI employee with 30 years of service, I can honestly state that Athan Theoharis' book is a fascinating, detailed, and accurate review of the FBI. His understanding of the FBI's filing system and of the FBI's senior management for almost 100 years is remarkable. Although I do not agree with all of Dr. Theoharis' conclusions or analysis of why the FBI has "failed" the American people, his highly critical book on the FBI should be a "must read" by those in the government interested in improving the FBI or by anyone who wants to learn about the FBI in a short, easy to read book.