In recent years there has been a growing body of work debating the meaning of intelligence, rooted in the ongoing definitional debate. What we mean by ''intelligence'' and how we understand ''intelligence'' are also questions at the heart of attempts to derive insights from the application of social science theorising to the field of Intelligence Studies. The comparative study of intelligence also seeks to illuminate these issues. This paper aims to draw on all three of these approaches (the definitional debate, social science theorisation, and comparative analysis) to explore a key but often overlooked question relating to the nature of national intelligence - namely, how significant is regime type to an understanding of the nature and role of intelligence? How far does the nature of intelligence differ across regime types? In what ways does it differ? To what extent does thinking along these lines suggest consistencies as much as distinguishing features? By focusing on the relationship between intelligence and the state, this paper sheds light on the question of ''what is intelligence'' as well as related questions such as the possibilities for international co-operation and possible limits to oversight and accountability mechanisms.
