Samenvatting

Secrecy complicates the relationship between intelligence and security services and their responsible ministers on the one hand, and members of parliament on the other. How can parliament deal constructively with intelligence and security services, despite the secrecy involved? This article presents a novel conceptual framework to analyse political relations influenced by secrecy, based on four recurring types of parliamentary reactions to intelligence and security services. The focus is a case study of the Dutch parliament and Security Service (BVD) between 1975 and 1995. The analysis demonstrates that constructive parliamentary dealings with secret services depend both on party-political responses to secrecy and strategic responses on the part of the secret services to ambiguous relationships with parliament. The presented typology of four recurring parliamentary reactions to intelligence and security services and the model for constructive parliamentary debate contribute to a better understanding of reasons and consequences of political and societal reactions to the new Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act (Wiv).