Democracy Betrayed: The Rise of the Surveillance Security State

A vital and important look at the rise of a security state that is transforming the nature of our democracy



In the aftermath of 9/11, in lockstep with booming technological advancements, a new and more authoritarian form of governance is upplanting liberal democracy. The creation of the Security Industrial Complex — an “internal security state–within–the–state” fueled by tech companies, private security firms, and the Intelligence Community to the tune of $120 billion a year — is intruding on civil liberties to an unprecedented extent. Politicians tolerate it; some citizens welcome it, thinking it may be the way to keep America safe in a time of uncertainty and terrorism. But how real is this threat, and is it worth the loss of our individual privacy?



As a society, we have yet to comprehend the meaning of universal digital interconnection, its impact on our psychology, and its transformation of our government and society. America is at a crossroads in contending with a security goliath; allowing the beginnings of a police state, and the conversion of our of our “liberal democracy” to a “secure democracy”— one where government overreaches, tramples on civil liberties, and harnesses great advancements in technology to spy on the populace. Keller walks us through what these changes can mean to our society and, more importantly, what we can do to halt our march toward intrusive and widespread surveillance.



An urgent wakeup call for a country in crisis, Democracy Betrayed is a timely and deeply important book about the future of America.

William W. Keller is a graduate of Princeton University with a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University. He worked as a security analyst for the U.S. Congress for ten years, as executive director of the Center for International Studies at MIT, and as director of the Ridgway Center for International Security Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He current serves as director of the Center for International Trade and Security at the University of Georgia. He has held the highest security clearances and has written extensively about the FBI, defense technology, multinational corporations, the intelligence community, and the arms trade. He is the author of six books including Myth of the Global Corporation and Arm in Arm: The Political Economy of the Global Arms Trade.