Security Clearance

Charlotte Blackwood: What happened to your father?
Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell: I guess I kind of figured with your security clearance...that you'd know more about him than I do.
--Top Gun

'Security clearance' is a privilege granted by government officials to select people, who may be government employees or not, that allows those people access to information that the government considers 'classified' for 'national security' purposes. These are government secrets that government officials deem sensitive enough to be kept from the citizenry for their own protection.

Whether withholding certain information from the citizenry actually improves security while preserving liberty is a subject for another day. Consider instead the notion of security clearance.

Security clearance is clearly a political good. It is granted to some but not to others. It can be given and it can be taken away. It grants access to information that some consider valuable. As such, in markets for political favor, security clearance will be bought and sold.

Security clearance will therefore be subject to mischief among those with political interests.