This book confronts some of the most important questions related to liberalization, regulation, and the role of the nation state in an increasingly international economy. In the face of powerful transitional pressures for change, to what extent are states able to maintain stable institutional frameworks? Do different domestic structures generate dissimilar patterns of policy-making and economic performance? How important are past institutional choices to subsequent reform? The author addresses these questions through a study of the transformations of a strategic economic sector, telecommunications, in Britain and France over the past three decades. It analyses the theoretical strengths and weaknesses of various models of public policy formation and, the role and reform of national institutions and the continuing role of the nation state.

Originally published in 1992. This text is a work from a series entitled ' Bureaucracies, Public Administration and Public Policy. The Politics of Telecommunication regulation: The States and the Divestiture of AT&T is an example of high-quality policy analysis conducted at state level. It substitutes for simple theories of public policy more complex and interesting explanations and relies on massive and time-consuming data-gathering that gives careful attention to measurement issues, providing a sophisticated empirical analysis to evaluate the utility of public policy theories.

This book explains the international telecommunication union and its role in the politics of international telecommunications. It focuses on the key areas of frequency spectrum allocation, the avoidance of deliberate interference, and the setting of international telecommunications standards.

First published in 1990, The Political Economy of Communications explores the central theme of the relationship between politics and markets in policy development. The contributors show how governments have been drawn into increasing interdependency by technological and market developments, with international institutions like the European Community becoming more important in these policy areas. They argue that neither government ideologies nor market and technological forces offer an adequate account of the processes of change in communications policy. These conclusions lead to a critique of central theories of international political economy, notably neo-liberalism, and the authors advocate instead a neo-pluralist perspective for the study of political economy of communications – an approach that takes institutions much more seriously as a central unit of analysis. The book will be of interest to students of international relations, European studies, and media and telecommunication studies, as well as to political scientists and economists concerned with public policy.

This text argues that, instead of leading toward greater democratization, Mexico's policies of privatization in the 1980s were used for personal benefit, and to lubricate the existing state-labour relationship. It builds its case around the privatization of Mexico's telecommunications.

First published in 1986, The Politics of the Communications Revolution in Western Europe deals with the political implications of the communications revolution, specifically with impacts on political debate and agenda, the policy process, the role of the state, and European integration. The communications revolution in Western Europe combined radical changes in the fields of computing, broadcasting and telecommunications, converging in the new media, and is intimately linked to the wider information technology revolution. The economic and social implications of the communications revolution are wide-ranging and include: the electronic office, tele-banking and tele-shopping, decentralisation of economic activities, major transformations in the labour markets, and the strategic role of the electronics industry. This book will be of interest to students of European studies, history and media studies.

This concise book explores the wide range of topics at the intersection of politics and the Internet. Recognizing the changes in the Internet over time, Klotz provides an innovative analysis of online access, activities, advocacy, government, journalism, and social capital. The politics of the Internet is considered along with politics on the Internet. A highlight is the in-depth discussion of cyberlaw that provides an accessible framework for understanding the legal treatment of key issues such as music file-sharing, privacy, terrorism, spam, pornography, and domain names. Examples from the 2002 midterm elections and the early 2004 campaign fundraising success of Howard Dean add currency to the debate about the impact of the Internet on democratic politcs. The author conveys the vitality and humor of Internet politics in a way that readers will enjoy. From impassioned debate about imaginary legislation to the animal rights group PETA's lawsuit taking peta.org from 'People Eating Tasty Animals,' Klotz brings the colorful history of the Internet to life. Written from an interdisciplinary perspective, the book is infused with original longitudinal data, examples, online resources and landmark events that reveal how the Internet is enriching both public and private life.

This book examines the political and developmental implications of the new information and communication technologies (NICT) in the Third World. Whereas the concept of the 'digital divide' tends to focus on technological and quantitative indicators, this work stresses the crucial role played by the political regime type, the pursued development model and the specific configuration of actors and decision-making dynamics. Two starkly contrasting Third World countries, state-socialist Cuba and the Latin America's ""show-case democracy"" Costa Rica, were chosen for two in-depth empirical country s.