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Last updated August 25, 1997
Classes: Tuesday 7:00 pm - 9:45 pm
Location: CPD Room
Instructor: Stephen D. McDowell
Office: Room 356D Diffenbaugh Building
Office Hours: Tuesday 2:00 - 4:00 pm; Wednesday 2:00 - 5:00 pm
Ph: 850-644-2276
Facs: 850-644-8642
E-mail: smcdowel@mailer.fsu.edu
Course WWW site:
http://mailer.fsu.edu/~smcdowel/rtv57out.html
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SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS:
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
Session 1 (August 26): Challenges Facing Telecommunications
Policy: Selected Perspectives
Questions for Consideration:
1/ The state: What have been and what are the role of public
policy and public regulation in guiding the production of
telecommunications services? What should be the role of the
state in the future?
2/ Technological change: How should we understand the processes
of technological development and change in the telecommunications
industry? What is the role of changes in technology in affecting
market structure and telecommunications policy?
3/ Economic structure/globalization: How important are changes in
the way economic production and exchange are organized for
telecommunications policy? In what ways have new uses of
telecommunications contributed to the re-organization of economic
production and exchange on a national and global scale?
4/ Role of industry structure/providers: What is the importance of
the ownership structure of the industry -- such as
concentration, cross-ownership, competition among multiple
providers -- for the introduction of new services, responsiveness
to consumer demand, and serving broader communications needs of
society?
5/ Role of users/consumers: How important are the large and small
users of telecommunications services in shaping the types of
services which are made available?
Session 2 (September 2): Background of U.S. Telecommunications
Act of 1996
Readings:
Drake, William J, "Introduction: The Turning Point," in William
J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies
for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp
1-27.
Jameson, Justin, "New Media: The likely development path and future
regulatory requirements," Telecommunications Policy, Volume 20, Number 6
(1996), pp. 399-413.
Other:
Gilder, George, "Into the Telecosm," Harvard Business Review Vol. 69
(March-April 1991), pp. 150-161.
Kline, David, and Daniel Burstein, "Is Government Obsolete?" Wired
(January 1996), pp. 86-105.
United States, Telecommunications Act of 1996
Session 3 (September 9): State and Local Telecommunications
Policy Issues I
Readings:
Noam, Eli, "The Federal-State Friction Built into the 1934 Act and options
for Reform," in Paul Teske (ed.), American Regulatory Federalism and
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Hillsdale, Nj: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995),
pp. 113-123.
Geller, Henry, "Comments - Legal Issues in Preemption," in Paul Teske
(ed.), American Regulatory Federalism and Telecommunications
Infrastructure (Hillsdale, Nj: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995), pp. 125-131.
Cole, Barry, "State Policy Laboratories," in Paul Teske (ed.), American Regulatory Federalism and
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Hillsdale, Nj: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995),
pp. 35-45.
Other:
Melody, William, and Dorte Miller, "Rights of Way as a Foundation for
Infrastructure Competition," in William H. Melody (ed.), Telecom Reform:
Principles, Policies and Regulatory Practicies (Lyngby: Den Private
Ingeniorfond, Technical University of Denmark, 1997), pp. 125-137.
Florida, Telecommunications Law of 1995
Questions for Consideration:
PART TWO: POLICY PERSPECTIVES AND FRAMEWORKS
Session 4 (September 16): The Purposes and Methods of Public
Policy Analysis
Readings:
Pal, Leslie, Public Policy Analysis (Second Edition) (Toronto:
Nelson, 1992), Chapter 2, pp. 16-37.
Heineman, Robert A., William T. Bluhm, Steven A. Peterson, and
Edward N. Kearny, The World of the Policy Analyst: Rationality,
Values, and Politics (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1990), Chapter
2, pp. 35-67.
Other:
Stone, Deborah A., Policy Paradox and Political Reason (Harper
Collins, 1988), Preface, Introduction and Chapter 1, pp.
1-26.
Eisner, Marc Allen, Regulatory Politics in Transition (Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins, 1993), Chapter 1, pp. 1-26.
Questions for Consideration:
1/ How should we define public policy? Are policies only
intended and conscious actions and choices? Should the term
public policy also refer to outcomes and consequences of public
decisions or actions?
2/ Should policy formation and decisions be seen as distinct from
implementation?
3/ What is the proper relationship between politics and public
policy?
4/ How should knowledge claims be judged and compared in public
policy analysis? Should professional or expert knowledge
supersede the claims of other groups? Should "facts" and
"values" be separated? Is there a standard of knowledge which is
consensual in telecommunications policy?
5/ What are the main elements of a rational policy analysis
model? Is a rational practice of public policy possible or
desirable in a period of rapid technical, economic and social
change? Is rational public policy possible or desirable in a
democratic polity?
6/ How applicable are Deborah Stone's
concepts of political reasoning and strategically crafted
argument to understanding the issues and process of contemporary
telecommunications policy? What metaphors and analogies
presently are used to define telecommunications policy problems
and paradoxes?
7/ What are the differences in the notion of public interest in
telecommunications in the market image and the political
community image which Deborah Stone puts forward? Can the
development of a public telecommunications network be seen as a
"commons" problem?
Session 5 (September 23): Perspectives on Telecommunications and
Public Policy
Please Note: Take Home Test is due
Readings:
Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The
Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1989), Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-44.
Bar, Francois, "Information Infrastructure and the Transformation
of Manufacturing," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information
Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth
Century Fund, 1995), pp. 55-74.
Other:
Mosco, Vincent, "Toward a Theory of the State and
Telecommunications Policy," Journal of Communication Vol. 38, No.
1 (Winter 1988), pp. 107-124.
Questions for Consideration:
1/ Which of Horwitz's models of regulation do you find to be the
most useful?
2/ In what ways do the elements and construction of Horwitz's
theory of communications regulations differ from Brock's models
of communications policy? What implications do these differences
have for the type of research each author undertakes?
3/ How do Horwitz's theories fit into the types of policy frameworks
proposed by Leslie Pal (structural determinacy, rational actor,
and meaning systems)?
4/ What are the elements of the four general forms of governance
in Mosco's argument? What countries might provide examples of
each? What is the role of power in each of the three frameworks
of telecommunications policy that Mosco presents? Which of these
frameworks do you find to be the most useful, either for
examining telecommunications policy in the united States or
elsewhere?
PART THREE: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
POLICY
Session 6 (September 30): The Political and Economic Antecedents
of Regulation
Readings:
Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The
Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1989), Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 46-125.
Other:
Beniger, James R., The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic
Origins of the Information Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1986), pp. 219-287.
Questions for Consideration:
1/ How are common law, administrative law, and regulation
distinct? What were the key dynamics in the development of
"regulation" as a form of governance in the United States? What
distinguishes the problems, purposes, and mechanisms of
regulation in different periods?
2/ What is technology, according to James Beniger? What were the
origins of the successive crises of control Beniger describes?
How can you relate the arguments of Beniger and Horwitz?
Session 7 (October 7): The 1934 Communications Act: Public
Interest Regulation of Telecommunications and Broadcasting
Readings:
Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The
Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1989), Chapters 5 and 6, pp. 126-195.
McChesney, Robert W., Telecommunications, Mass Media, and
Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), Chapter 8,
pp. 185-225.
Questions for consideration:
1/ What were the key dynamics in the formation of price and entry
regulation?
2/ How important were particular steps and missteps of the
National Committee on Education by Radio and other broadcast
reformers in the success of efforts to reserve spectrum for
educational and non-profit uses?
3/ Why were these groups as effective as they were? Would the
outcome (in terms of spectrum allocation, the role of the FCC,
and the shape of the Communications Act) have differed if these
groups had been better organized or if specific persons had acted
differently?
4/ What challenges faced, and now face, groups making public
interest claims in the broadcasting field? How sustainable is
the notion of public interest broadcasting in a commercial
broadcasting system?
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PART FOUR: RESTRUCTURING POLICY AND REGULATION
Session 8 (October 14): Divestiture, Deregulation and the
Movement to Competition?
Please Note: Discussion paper 1 is due
Readings:
Noam, Eli M., "Beyond Telecommunications Liberalization: Past
Performance, Present Hype, and Future Direction," in William J.
Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for
U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 31-54.
Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The
Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1989), Chapters 7-9, pp. 196-284.
Other:
Wilson, Kevin G., "Deregulating telecommunications and the
problem of natural monopoly: a critique of economics in
telecommunications policy," Media, Culture and Society Vol. 14
(1992), pp. 343-368.
Questions for Consideration:
Other Resources:
Go to
Session 9 (October 21): Public Policy Efforts to Shape
Technology
Readings:
Solomon, Richard Jay, "Telecommunications Technology for the
Twenty-first Century," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New
Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York:
Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 93-111.
McKnight, Lee, and W. Russell Neuman, "Technology Policy and the
National Information Infrastructure," in William J. Drake (ed.),
The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy
(New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 137-155.
Questions for Consideration:
1/ What models or images are most useful to understand the
development and uses of intelligent network technologies?
2/ Do technical standards constrain or support creativity and
innovation?
3/ Are processes of technical design and standardization neutral
processes, or are certain organizations and groups more likely to
guide and benefit from these developments?
4/ What struggles take place within and among nations over
technology design?
Other Resources:
Go to
Session 10 (October 28): Universal Service and Social Policy
Readings:
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, Falling through the Net: A Survey of
the `Have Nots' in Rural and Urban America (Washington: Dept. of
Commerce, July 1995).
Dordick, Herbert, "The Social Consequences of Liberalization and
Corporate Control on Telecommunications," in William J. Drake
(ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S.
Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp 155-172.
Melody, Bill, "Efficiency and Social Policy in Telecommunication:
Lessons from the U.S. Experience," Journal of Economic Issues
Vol. 23, No. 3 (September 1989), pp. 657-687.
Other:
Hadden, Susan E., and Edward Lenert, "Telecommunications networks
are not VCRs: the public nature of new information technologies
for universal service," Media, Culture and Society Volume 17
(1995), pp. 121-140.
Bernt, Phyllis, Hans Kruse, and David Landsbergen, "Impact of
Alternative Technologies on Universal Service and Competition in
the Local loop," Telematics and Informatics Vol. 10, No. 4
(1993), pp. 359-377.
Questions for Consideration:
1/ Is there a public interest in increasing the quality and
capacity of services on the public network? How should the costs
of network modernization be distributed?
2/ What problems are encountered in efforts to make telephone
service provision more efficient by linking prices to the cost
causation of different services? Who should pay for access to
the local and inter-exchange telephone network? Is the
subscriber line charge necessary of equitable?
3/ Is some competition a useful political value to reduce risks
of regulatory capture, as argued by Bill Melody? Or does society
pay more in terms of sustainable but economically inefficient
competition in some services, as argued by Kevin Wilson?
Session 11 (November 4): Public Policy for the Intelligent
Network
Readings:
Reidenberg, Joel R., "Information Flows on the Global Infobahn:
Toward New U.S. Poliicies," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New
Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York:
Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 251-268.
McChesney, Robert, "The Internet and U.S. Communication Policy-
Making in Historical and Critical Perspective," Journal of
Communication Volume 46, Number 1 (Winter 1996), pp. 98-124.
Other:
Samarajiva, Rohan, and Peter Shields, "Emergent institutions of
the `intelligent network': Toward a theoretical understanding,"
Media, Culture and Society Vol. 14 (1992), pp. 397-419.
Kahin, Brian, "The U.S. National Information Infrastructure Initiative:
The Market, the Net and the Virtual Project," in Brian Kahin and Ernest J.
Wilson III (eds.), National Information Infrastructure Initiatives: Vision
and Policy Design (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1997), pp. 150-198.
Questions for Consideration:
November 11: Veteran's Day Holiday: No class session
Please Note: Discussion Paper 2 is due by November 14
Session 12 (November 18): Cable Legislation and Policy
Readings:
Atkin, David J., "Cable exhibition in the USA: Ownership trends
and implications of the 1992 Cable Act," Telecommunications
Policy Vol. 18, No. 4 (May-June 1994), pp. 331-341.
Suzanne Douglas, "The Reagan Era: An Overview of U.S.
Telecommunications Policy," Telematics and Informatics Vol. 7,
No. 1 (1990), pp. 63-70.
Other:
Baldwin, Thomas, D. Stevens McVoy, and Charles Steinfeld,
Convergence: Integrating Media, Information, and Communication
(Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1996), Chapter 4, pp. 78-103.
Questions for Consideration:
Session 13 (November 25): Forming and Implementing the
Telecommunications Act of 1996
Please note: Draft Papers are due November 25
Readings:
Drake, William J, "The National Information Infrastructure
Debate: Issues, Interests and the Congressional Process," in
William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure:
Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund,
1995), pp. 305-344.
Geller, Henry, "Reforming the U.S. Telecommunications
Policymaking Process," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New
Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York:
Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 115-136.
Other:
Statement of Robert E. Allen, Chairman and CEO of AT&T, before the
House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, May 10, 1995.
Statement of Gerald Levin, , Chairman and CEO of Time-Warner Inc., before
the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, May 10, 1995.
Statement of James Cullen, Vice-chairman, Bell Atlantic Corporation,
before the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, May 10,
1995.
Statement of Richard Devlin, Executive Vice-President, Sprint
Corporation, before the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee,
May 10, 1995.
Statement of Larry Irving, Department of Commerce, before the
House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, May 11, 1995.
Statement of Ronald J. Binz, National Association of State Utility
Consumer Advocates, before the House Telecommunications and
Finance Subcommittee, May 11, 1995.
Statement of Bradley Stillman, CFA Telecommunications Policy Director,
before the House Telecommunications and
Finance Subcommittee, Committee on Commerce, May 11, 1995.
Questions for Consideration:
1/ What were the major issues and problems faced in attempts up
to 1995 to rework telecommunications legislation?
2/ Does the legislative process in the United States allow for
too much or inadequate "public interest" input? What could be
done to rework institutions in this light?
3/ What issues are encountered in implementing new laws in a way
that reflects legislators' intentions?
Session 14 (December 2): Research Presentations and/or Special
Topics
Please note: Revised final papers are due Friday December 5.
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