A shock theory of congressional accountability for intelligence

Scholars who have focused on intelligence accountability by lawmakers have found a system far less effective than reformers had hoped for when, in the aftermath of a domestic spy scandal, Congress tried to institute major improvements in 1974-76.1 Similarly, a national panel of inquiry, the Kean Commission, concluded in 2004 that “congressional oversight for intelligence – and for counterterrorism – is now dysfunctional.”2