ABSTRACT
The power of witnessing and of communicating what is witnessed is the fundamental power of the democratic public. As P. Rosanvallon described in his study of the French and American revolutions, it is the potential of the public as ‘eyes’ everywhere that constitutes the power of scrutiny. A combination of investigative journalism, critical academic research and public witnessing provides the grounds for building evidence-based narratives that are able to bring into dramatic relationship individuals and organisations across the domains locally, regionally, nationally, internationally, globally. Much more can be added from the experiences of individuals but the list is enough to indicate the need for effective exercise of strategic, critical oversight of the acts of powerful elites inside and outside of government. If a society composed of the sealed-off military/police/secret service domains domains is to be considered democratic, then each becomes a legitimate focus of public oversight.
