Final answer:
The federal government employee mentioned in The Watchers that advocated for comprehensive digital surveillance in the 1980s wasn't specified, but the piece ties into broader surveillance discussions influenced by Bentham, Orwell, and Foucault, culminating in the scrutiny of the NSA following Snowden's revelations.
Step-by-step explanation
The On the Media audio piece entitled The Watchers did not clearly specify who the federal government employee was who pushed for comprehensive digital surveillance in the 1980s. However, the piece reflects on the broader context of surveillance in society, inspired by ideas from Jeremy Bentham's panopticons', George Orwell's depiction in 1984, and later Michel Foucault's analysis. This paradigm of surveillance entails a decentralized system where the observed are constantly monitored without direct communication, a concept echoed in the revelations made by Edward Snowden and the ensuing scrutiny of the NSA's practices by the public and Congress.