When compared to the open and democratic polis of Athens, the ancient polis of Sparta is often portrayed as closed off and secretive; this characterization emerges already in some ancient sources, like Thucydides. The notion of an inherent, constitutional secretiveness in ancient Sparta has been debated for decades in its validity amongst modern scholars, without reaching a clear and definitive basis for consensus. When this idea is discussed, two key Spartan institutions will usually be invoked: the krypteia and xenelasia. This dissertation aims at conducting a close analysis of these two institutions, in order to ascertain the efficacy of their use for claiming whether the Laconian polis was constitutionally secretive or not. The study reveals that both the krypteia and the xenelasia had aspects that can convey a perception of secrecy; however, as the analysis of ancient sources and modern scholarship reveals possible biases and unduly extensions respectively, this research suggests that these aspects alone of the two institutions are not sufficient on their own to constitute the basis for the argument that Sparta as a polis was inherently secretive.