Intelligence Democratisation: A Comparative Analysis of Portugal, Greece, and Spain

Abstract

The relationship between intelligence and democratisation is always delicate. In this thesis, the intelligence democratisation levels of the Portuguese, Greek, and Spanish intelligence services will be analysed comparatively. This will take place based on five Security Sector Reform (SSR) indicators: Lustration, Control and Oversight, Collection, Recruitment and Civil Society. It will be shown that although the three case studies started their transition to democracy around the same time, they present different results when it comes to intelligence democratisation. Legacies of the past emerge as the main barrier for reform with the Portuguese intelligence service being the one that has made the most steps towards democratising after an intensive lustration process. Other interesting themes, such as the relationship between consumers and producers of intelligence as well as the role of civil society, constitute key trends within the analysis and help understand the reasons behind progress made (or not) across the three cases.