OVERSIGHT OF INTELLIGENCE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The oversight of intelligence organizations is determined by the threat parameters and the institutional culture they belong to, and the regime types of the countries. This article comparatively analyses intelligence oversight in democracies and authoritarian regimes with a comprehensive literature review and an examination of the relevant open-source intelligence documents. As a result of the study, it has been found that the oversight of intelligence in democratic and authoritarian regimes differs mainly in two points. These are the difference of purpose and the difference of oversight mechanisms. It concludes that the most fundamental distinction between democratic and authoritarian regimes in terms of purpose difference is the oversight of compliance with the law and the purpose of society/regime security. While intelligence oversight in democratic countries includes examining the compliance of the activities with individual rights, national and international law, this situation represents a symbolic process in authoritarian regimes. The article also reveals that the effectiveness of oversight mechanisms varies due to the institutionalization of the practices arising from the difference in purpose in democratic and authoritarian regimes. In this regard, the article also demonstrates that democracies today have more effective and institutional intelligence oversight mechanisms. It argues that the factors that make up the difference are effective oversight authority, civilian control and specialization