DOMESTIC SECURITY FOR THE AMERICAN STATE - THE FBI, COVERT REPRESSION, AND DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY

This paper explores the contradictions between state power and democratic legitimacy by examining the FBI's counterintelligence programs (COINTELPROs) against the civil rights and the anti-Vietnam war movements. I argue that the rhetorical construction of domestic security threats through the stigma of ''subversion'' and the use of covert techniques of repression are ways the American state attempts to meet the challenges of dissident movements while at the same time maintaining democratic appearances. Drawing upon scholarly research. Congressional reports, and various reprinted FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, I find that the local implementation of covert repression was erratic and inconsistent and depended on field office discretion despite formal procedures and specific directives from Headquarters. Findings indicate that covert repression is not directly shaped by some unified conception of the state but embodies contradictory features.