Source: Independent Institute
by Abigail R Hall
“A whistleblower is an employee or a former employee who reveals information about wrongdoing inside an organization. As my coauthors and I have written, whistleblowers have played a critical role in exposing government abuses in democratic societies. Ideally, government officials act only to benefit the public. Should they act opportunistically or against the public interest, they would be punished through mechanisms like the voting booth, prosecution, or impeachment. Literature on the economics of politics, or ‘public choice,’ however, illustrates that real democratic institutions deviate from this ideal as a result of information asymmetries, in which some actors have more or better information than others, voter ignorance, and the organizational structures of politics. These imperfections are amplified in the national security state.” (07/27/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/07/27/hegseths-war-on-leaks-is-a-war-on-accountability/