Control of the Intelligence Agencies

The existence of modern intelligence agencies presents a criticaldilemma for any democratic society. The term intelligenceagency, as used here, does not refer to ordinary police forces investigatingtraditional crime or administrative agencies seeking toenforce regulatory measures. Rather it designates agencies, such asthe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central IntelligenceAgency, the National Security Agency, and the intelligence servicesof the armed forces, that seek to collect a broad range of informationfor use by the government, including information relating tothe political opinions and activities of various targeted individualsand groups. The development of such agencies in the UnitedStates is, at least on the present scale, a relatively new phenomenon.Normal democratic controls designed to prevent abuses in theexercise of official authority have not caught up with this form ofgovernment activity