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Democracy in the Dark: The Seduction of Government Secrecy Hardcover – April 7, 2015

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
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“A timely and provocative book exploring the origins of the national security state and the urgent challenge of reining it in” (The Washington Post).
 
From Dick Cheney’s man-sized safe to the National Security Agency’s massive intelligence gathering, secrecy has too often captured the American government’s modus operandi better than the ideals of the Constitution. In this important book, Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., who was chief counsel to the US Church Committee on Intelligence―which uncovered the FBI’s effort to push Martin Luther King Jr. to commit suicide; the CIA’s enlistment of the Mafia to try to kill Fidel Castro; and the NSA’s thirty-year program to get copies of all telegrams leaving the United States―uses examples ranging from the dropping of the first atomic bomb and the Cuban Missile Crisis to Iran–Contra and 9/11 to illuminate this central question: How much secrecy does good governance require? Schwarz argues that while some control of information is necessary, governments tend to fall prey to a culture of secrecy that is ultimately not just hazardous to democracy but antithetical to it. This history provides the essential context to recent cases from Chelsea Manning to Edward Snowden.
 
Democracy in the Dark is a natural companion to Schwarz’s Unchecked and Unbalanced, cowritten with Aziz Huq, which plumbed the power of the executive branch―a power that often depends on and derives from the use of secrecy.
 
“[An] important new book . . . Carefully researched, engagingly written stories of government secrecy gone amiss.” ―The American Prospect
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    The New Press
  4. Publication date
    April 7, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    6.4 x 1.3 x 9.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1620970511
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1620970515
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Frederick A.O Schwarz Jr.:
"Schwarz is among the many quiet patriots who are spreading the word that the very meaning of the United States, the whole point of this fragile experiment in representative democracy, will be lost if the nation's ironclad commitment to the rule of law is allowed to unravel."
―Bob Herbert, The New York Times

Praise for Democracy in the Dark:
"A timely and provocative book exploring the origins of the national security state and the urgent challenge of reining it in.”
―Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post

"Thorough and even-handed… In Democracy in the Dark, Frederick Schwarz, Jr., has produced a thoughtful, authoritative account…[of] the troubling consequences of excessive secrecy….his work is a must-read."
―Foreign Affairs

“[An] important new book…carefully researched, engagingly written stories of government secrecy gone amiss.”
―The American Prospect

“Timely and powerfully argued, this account by an exceptionally well-positioned observer and participant in the contentious history of government secrecy will prove a necessary addition to ongoing policy debates.”
―Publishers Weekly

"Filled with powerful and colorful stories and new analyses, this book will be great reading for citizens and government officials alike."
―Former Vice President Walter Mondale

"No one writes about the hazards of secrecy as clearly and convincingly as does Frederick A.O. Schwarz in this important book. It should be required reading for every citizen who seeks to bring sunlight into the darkened corridors of government that endanger America's democracy."
―Loch Johnson, editor of Intelligence and National Security

"A thoughtful, highly informed, and carefully researched analysis of one of the most fundamental challenges facing our nation today. He highlights secrecy's dangers to democracy but also acknowledges that secrecy is sometimes essential to national security. His effort to help us strike the right balance between democracy and secrecy is his greatest―and truly insightful―contribution."
―Geoffrey R. Stone, member of President Obama's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies and author of Top Secret: When Government Keeps Us in the Dark

About the Author

Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. is chief counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He was chief counsel to the Church Committee. He is the author of Democracy in the Dark: The Seduction of Government Secrecy and a co-author, with Aziz Z. Huq, of Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror (both from The New Press). He lives in New York City.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The New Press (April 7, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1620970511
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1620970515
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.41 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.3 x 9.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Joyce Talmadge
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read
    Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This well-researched and detailed - yet approachable - history provides a much needed and thorough context for today's critical debate on government secrecy and surveillance. The accounts of the use of secrecy through our history greatly expanded my knowledge of important events. A must-read.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • TruthSeeker
    5.0 out of 5 stars Timely information.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    If you think you know about government secrecy, you do not until you read this book.
    The facts are here for all to see.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Star Reviewer
    3.0 out of 5 stars Accounts of Secrecy Clearly Presented
    Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015
    While, not breaking new ground, Schwarz does yeoman-like work in aggregating stories of America's tilt towards pervasive secrecy. A more narrative approach might have been more engaging, but his exposition is clear and to the point, though a bit arid. I suspect this work is geared somewhat more to new-comers to the field of secrecy, as many, if not most, of the accounts recited are familiar to those who have followed the subject. For those who wish to pursue the topic in more detail, I recommend the government secrecy project to be found on the Federation of American Scientists website or any of the works by Washington Post reporter Dana Priest.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Phil L.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Interesting reading...
    One person found this helpful
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  • SERGIO L ZERPA
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Great book with a good balanced perspective between what we ideally wish for and what we practically need.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Stella Westfall
    5.0 out of 5 stars alison's review
    Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    The book is informative, discursive, and thought-provoking, and the author's passion for the subject is clear.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Stephen Mathis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Fascinating story of the history of transparency in our country since its founding.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Chachy
    2.0 out of 5 stars A Promising Failure
    Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2018
    I love to learn. So the one good thing I will say about this book is that it provided me information that I did not know. That is what makes my review two stars rather than one. But this benefit pails in comparison to its defects. First, the unending repetition of points or facts is akin to having someone tapping you on the head incessantly; it's not painful or injurious, but it becomes very annoying. Second, the book seems to focus on a narrow band of examples, which only adds to the tedious repetition. A better title for the book would be, "My Time on the Church Commission." Third, the author seems set on a vain mission to establish a term into the vernacular ("The Secrecy Era") that would come to be on par with terms like "The Iron Curtain." This is very distracting and needlessly annoying. Therefore, and not surprisingly, this book could have been a third or half its length. In the end, the pain of the process is not worth the gain in knowledge.
    7 people found this helpful
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