Methodology - Hoover's direction of bureaucratic politics

            This plan of inquiry discusses the method used to explore the relationship between Hoover's direction of bureaucratic politics and whether or not that direction had any affect on the success of COINTELPRO operations.  A comparison between the COINTELPRO: WHITE HATE and COINTELPRO: NEW LEFT programs will be made on the basis of two variables: (1) How Hoover used bureaucratic politics regarding that specific program, and (2) was that operation considered a success or not.

Research Question

RQ: How did  FBI Director Hoover's political direction of the agency affect the efficiency of COINTELPRO operations?

IV = Hoover's use of bureaucratic politics
DV = The successful use of a COINTELPRO program to degrade a subversive group's ability to harm a nation.

Data Sources

            The data sources chosen were selected for their applicability to the study in several criteria; a phenomenological approach in which those that participated in the operations subjectively judged both or either variable,  the identification of themes used in text (used primarily in identifying the use of Hoover's political maneuvering), statistical information, and content analysis.  The sources were located from a variety of origination, although most sources were located from cross-referencing bibliographies once a data source had been identified.  Enough sources were selected to provide a balance between credibility and validation on one hand, and redundancy on the other.

            Annotated Bibliography

Cunningham, D. (2003). The patterning of repression: FBI counterintelligence and the New Left. Social Forces, 82(1), 209–240.

Cunningham, D., & Browning, B. (2004). The emergence of worthy targets: Official frames and deviance narratives within the FBI. Sociological Forum, 19(3), 347–369.

Cunningham is a professor of sociology at Brandies University.  His work has centered on the FBI's response to subversive groups (referred to by Cunningham as “dissidents”).  In these studies, he examines the FBI's internal policies in COINTELPRO and discuses Hoover's role.  Cunningham performs a content analysis on 2,487 COINTELPRO” NEW LEFT memos in which he coded background information, type, and target. 

Drabble, J. (2008). The FBI, COINTELPRO-WHITE HATE, and the decline of Ku Klux Klan organizations in Alabama. Alabama Review, 61(1), 3–47.

Drabble's work has focused specifically on COINTELPRO: WHITE HATE.  He is a professor who teaches Human Rights at the University of California at Berkeley.  Drabble provides a historical narrative that relies primarily on internal FBI memos and contemporary news reports, although he also sources Keller and O'Reilly.  He does conclude that FBI action against the Klan caused a loss in membership, and provides membership figures to demonstrate his claim

Keller, W. W. (1989). The liberals and J. Edgar Hoover: Rise and fall of a domestic intelligence state. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

Keller, an analyst with the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, Program of International Security and Commerce, discusses Hoover's alliances with political liberals in protecting and establishing the FBI's bureaucratic domain.

Kessler, R. (2003). The bureau: the secret history of the FBI (St. Martin’s Paperbacks ed). New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks.

Kessler, a former Washing Post reporter, has written more than 10 books concerning the FBI and other security agencies of the United States.  This a history based upon the interview method and using other historical sources.  Kessler's writing about Hoover and the FBI provide information regarding Hoover's personality and it's effect on the way that he utilized politics to advance the FBI's interests.

Powers, R. G. (1987). Secrecy and power: the life of J. Edgar Hoover. New York; London: Free Press ; Collier Macmillan.

Power's biography of Hoover is the most controversial of those listed as sources. Powers, a professor of history at the College of Staten Island, specializes in American security issues and the FBI.  The focus of this book is on Hoover's decision making and political infighting capabilities.  It can help in explaining COINTELPRO operations in terms of the bureaucratic politics model.

Sullivan, W. C. (1979). The Bureau: My thirty years in Hoover’s FBI (1st ed). New York: Norton.

Sullivan was an Assistant Director of the FBI under Hoover, and responsible for several COINTELPRO operations.  However, this book was written after his retirement from the FBI.

This is primarily an autobiography focused on Sullivan's time in the FBI overall.

Sullivan does discuss COINTELPRO operations against both the Klan and the New Left.  His perspective adds a phenomenological approach to the study.

Varon, J. (2004). Bringing the war home: the Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and revolutionary violence in the sixties and seventies. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Varon is an assistant professor of history at Drew University.    His purpose in writing this book was to compare the violence committed by the New Left in America versus the New Left in Germany.  His sources range from ethnographic interviews with the terrorists themselves to government reports to histories and news reports.  This information in gauging the success of COINTELPRO: NEW LEFT

Weiner, T. (2013). Enemies: a history of the FBI. New York: Random House.

Weiner is a national security reporter for the New York Times; he has won the National Book Award for his work on the CIA, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.  Weiner based his research on Freedom of Information requests and 208 oral histories that had been compiled by retirees. Weiner's information can be utilized to gather data regarding Hoover's bureaucratic politics.

Research Design

            Data needs to be collected for both variables. As the bulk of the data collected will be narrative in nature, Creswell (2012) suggests coding for themes as a method of analysis.  The application of coding for theme is most suited for the variable of Hoover's use of bureaucratic politics.  The level of success in each program can be weighed on two basis;  success against the Klan can be measured in membership levels and in the narrative of those that conducted the operations, while success against the New Left can be measured in the narrative of those that took part in New Left terror actions, and the narrative of those that conducted the operations against them.

Data Analysis Strategy

            There are five steps in exploring the relationship between Hoover's use of bureaucratic politics and whether a given operation could be considered a success.  Data should be analyzed with the purpose of identifying the methods of politics that Hoover used.  Then which method of politics Hoover used in regards specifically to each program (WHITE HATE, NEW LEFT) should be classified.  At this point, an analysis must be made as to whether there was a significant difference in Hoover's maneuvering between the two programs.  Both programs must be judged as to the level of success.  Finally, the political method used must be evaluated against the success or failure of that operation.

Summary

            The methodology used to explore the relationship between Hoover's direction of bureaucratic politics and whether or not that direction had any affect on the success of COINTELPRO operations.  A comparison between the COINTELPRO: WHITE HATE and COINTELPRO: NEW LEFT programs is based upon the independent variable of  Hoover's use of bureaucratic politics and a dependent vraiable of the level of that program's success.  Data has been gathered from biographies, histories, interviews and studies regarding both Hoover and COINTELPRO.  This data must be analyzed to identify the methods of politics  used by Hoover, and the data must also be used to evaluate the success of the two COINTELPRO operations.

References

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating    quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed). Boston: Pearson.

Cunningham, D. (2003). The patterning of repression: FBI counterintelligence and the New       Left. Social Forces, 82(1), 209–240.

Cunningham, D., & Browning, B. (2004). The emergence of worthy targets: Official frames and   deviance narratives within the FBI. Sociological Forum, 19(3), 347–369.

Drabble, J. (2008). The FBI, COINTELPRO-WHITE HATE, and the decline of Ku Klux Klan organizations in Alabama. Alabama Review, 61(1), 3–47.

Keller, W. W. (1989). The liberals and J. Edgar Hoover: Rise and fall of a domestic intelligence            state. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

Kessler, R. (2003). The bureau: the secret history of the FBI (St. Martin’s Paperbacks ed). New           York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Powers, R. G. (1987). Secrecy and power: the life of J. Edgar Hoover. New York; London: Free      Press ; Collier Macmillan.

Sullivan, W. C. (1979). The Bureau: My thirty years in Hoover’s FBI (1st ed). New York:         Norton.

Varon, J. (2004). Bringing the war home: the Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and     revolutionary violence in the sixties and seventies. Berkeley: University of California        Press.

Weiner, T. (2013). Enemies: a history of the FBI. New York: Random House.