Framing national security secrecy: A conceptual review

This essay investigates justifications for the “necessity” of official secrecy, by tracing and structuring rationales underlying it. Justifications will be investigated through case “national security secrecy,” a prominent example secrecy. While literature generally treats secrecy” as unidimensional, this analysis demarcates several distinct rationales. Specifically, three national secrecy are identified: logic crisis demanding suspension normal democratic processes (threat frame); need enabling enhancing governance (effectiveness delegation to protection decision makers (elite frame). The paper illustrates possible frictions, overlaps, synergies between different thus broadening existing conceptualization away from transparency direct opposites. It further contributes ongoing research on frame perspective, linking theories, justifications, practices