Freedom of Information in National Security Affairs: A Comparative Study of Norway and the United States

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that there is much less secrecy in the United States than in its allies across the Atlantic. This paper sets out to substantiate this thesis by means of a comparison between Norway and the US. The Freedom of Information Act and the Executive Order on classification are compared to their Norwegian counterparts and on a number of points the US rules are found to be more liberal. Some material is presented on administrative practices in the two countries. This comparison indicates that the US Freedom of Information Act is used very extensively and increasingly so, whereas the use of the Norwegian Act is not only lower, but declining. 19 possible explanations for the greater secrecy of Norway are offered, and it is suggested that these may serve as a basis for a wider comparative study. Finally, the possibility of convergence is discussed, on the basis of a trend towards a more liberal practice in Norway, while the US has swung back from the post-Watergate openness. It is nevertheless maintained that the US remains well ahead of Norway in its openness on national security issues.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adler, Allan & Morton Halperin , 1983. Litigation under the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act. 9th ed. Washington: Center for National Security Affairs.

Ausland, John C. , 1979. Bak ambassadens murer (Behind the Walls of the Embassy, in Norwegian) Oslo: Cappelen .

Einhorn, Eric S. , 1977. 'Denmark, Norway, and Sweden', in 1. Galnoor , ed., 1977, see below.

Frihagen, Arvid , 1979. 'Norway', pp. 106-24 in D.C. Rowat , ed. 1979, see below.

Galnoor, Itzhak , ed., 1977. Government Secrecy in Democracies. NY: Harper and Row. (Original edition New York: University Press.)

Galtung, Johan , 1974. 'Norway in the world community', in Natalie R. Ramsøy and Mariken Vaa , eds. Norwegian Society. Oslo: Norwegian Universities Press.

Gleditsch, Nils Petter , ed., 1978. The Schei Report on Loran-C and Omega. Oslo: PRIO. (Summary in English of Schei et al., 1975). (Available as PRIO publication P-6/78.)

Gleditsch, Nils Petter , 1982a. 'Informasjon om forsvarsspørsmål — praksis og regelverk' (Information about defense issues — legislation and practice). PRIO Inform, no. 11, 1982.

Gleditsch, Nils Petter , 1982b. 'Freedom of information and national security in Norway: Legislation and practice', PRIO Inform, no. 12, 1982. (Shorter version of Gleditsch, 1982a.)

10.

Gleditsch, Nils Petter & Owen Wilkes , eds., 1981. The Oslo Rabbit Trial . Oslo: Solidarity campaign for Gleditsch and Wilkes.

11.

Greenberg, Daniel , 1979. 'Accidents will happen', New Scientist , vol. 82, no. 1154, pp. 489-90.

12.

Halperin, Morton H. , 1981. 'Increasing government secrecy. Revising the classification order', First Principles, vol. 7, no. 2, November/December, pp. 1, 8-10.

13.

Halperin, Morton H. , 1982. 'The balancing test', First Principles , vol. 7, no. 7, May/June, pp. 10-12.

14.

Holstad, Sigvard , 1979. 'Sweden', pp. 29-50 in D.C. Rowat , ed., 1979, see below.

15.

Høgetveit, Einar , 1981 a. 'Våre hemmeligheter' (Our secrets, review of the Royal Commission report on declassification), Dagbladet , January 16, 1981. (Reprinted as PRIO publication P-1/81).

16.

Høgetveit, Einar , 1981b. Hvor hemmelig? Offentlighetsprinsippet i Norge og USA, sœrlig med henblikk på militœrpolitiske spørsmål (How secret? The freedom of information principle in Norway and the US, with particular reference to questions of military policy). Oslo: Pax.

17.

Høgetveit, Einar , 1982. 'Hemmelighold, lovgivning og reform' (Secrecy, legislation, and reform), Ny Tid, vol. 8, no. 31, August 18. (Reprinted as PRIO Inform no. 4/1982).

18.

( Information Security Oversight Office ), 1980 . Annual Report to the President, Fiscal Year 1979. Washington, D.C.: ISOO, General Services Administration.

19.

Listhaug, Ola , 1983. 'Confidence in institutions: Some preliminary findings from the Norwegian values study', paper presented to the XII Nordic congress of sociology, University of Trondheim, Department of Social Science.

20.

Lynch, Mark H. , 1983. 'The FOIA and the CIA', First Principles , vol. 9, no. 1, September/October, pp. 1-4.

21.

Lodgaard, Sverre & Nils Petter Gleditsch , 1977. 'Norway — the not so reluctant ally', Cooperation and Conflict, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 209-19.

22.

Pringle, Peter & William Arkin , 1983. SIOP. Nuclear War from the Inside London: Sphere.

23.

Relyea, Harold C. , ed., 1978. The administration of the Freedom of Information Act: A brief overview of executive branch annual reports for 1977. Washington, D.C. : Congressional Research Service.

24.

Rowat, Donald C. , ed., 1979. Administrative Secrecy in Developed Countries. London: Macmillan.

25.

Schei, Andreas et al., 1977. Loran C og Omega (Loran-C and Omega). Oslo: Pax. (Originally published in classified form 1975, leaked 1977.)

26.

Shawcross, William , 1979. Sideshow. Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia . New York: Simon and Schuster.

27.

Wilkes, Owen & Nils Petter Gleditsch , forthcoming. Loran-C and Omega. A Study of the Military Importance of Radio Navigation Aids.

28.

Wyden, Peter , 1979. The Bay of Pigs. The Untold Story. New York: Simon and Schuster.