Accountability and Transparency of the Security Sector

The Security Sector represents an area of national politics which is particularly subjected to the system of checks and balances of governance in an open and democratic society. Since the security sector comprises the security forces themselves as well as the civilian authorities responsible for their use, the issue of security sector accountability and transparency leads far beyond mere civilian control over the military. The security sector, as encompassing the nation’s human and material means to use force, is comprehensively interwoven with the overall fabric of society in a political, economic, and sociological sense and therefore touches upon all facets of civil-military relations. The necessity to ensure accountability of those who hold executive responsibility in security and defense affairs derives from the immense power that rests with this bestowment and is mostly directed toward the legislative authority, the parliament, as the representative body of the people. To provide transparency with respect to how the nation’s means of force are administered rests with both major parts of national power, the executive and the parliament, and is primarily oriented toward the public.   Read The Full Monograph