Institutional Rivalry and the Politics of Information
Several beats foreground how competing institutions (White House, State, Pentagon, Judiciary) fight over both doctrine and data. Leaks, reassignments, and guarded casualty estimates become political weapons: the Pentagon protects chains of command, the White House seeks discretion to shape policy, and staffers police what becomes public. The friction exposes how information control is itself a site of power, with consequences for careers, accountability, and the ability to act morally.
Events Exemplifying This Theme
On the morning of the inauguration the President's world narrows to two brutal facts: his bold foreign-policy restatement has leaked and a covert 'forced depletion' inquiry into mass atrocities in …
A small, domestic moment—Donna delivers inaugural ball tickets and playfully catalogs Jack Reese's ornate uniform—quickly pivots into a political beat when State Department callers surface about changes to foreign policy …
In the Oval Office Bartlet gets a terse national-security briefing from Bob Slattery: U.S. intelligence outside Bitanga is almost non-existent, the Archbishop's clerical network is the best source, and civilian …
What begins as a perfunctory run-through of global niceties — a child-king in Bhutan, a detained ship — detonates when intelligence officers report systematic atrocities in the Republic of Equatorial …
A rapid-fire pivot from routine foreign-update to political crisis: Bartlet receives bleak intelligence (the euphemism “swapping family members”) and then moves to contain bureaucratic blowback. Josh tells the President that …