The Politics of Telecommunications National Institutions, Convergences, and Change in Britain and France

by Thatcher, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780198280743
• ISBN10: 0198280742
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book examines and compares policy making in telecommunications in Britain and France over the last three decades. It confronts important questions related to liberalization, regulation and the role of the nation state in an increasingly international economy and analyzes the theoretical strengths and weaknesses of various models of public policy formation.

Author Biography

Mark Thatcher is Lecturer in Public Administration and Public Policy, Department of Government, London School of Economics.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	ix
Introduction: Telecommunications in Britain and France, National Institutions, and Change	1	(6)
National Institutions, Differences, Stability, and Change	7	(24)
Part I. The British and French Telecommunications Sector in 1969 and External Pressures For Change
The Roots of History: Telecommunications in Britain and France before 1969	31	(16)
Technological and Economic Pressures for Change in Telecommunications from the 1960s to the 1990s	47	(24)
Pressures for Change from the International Regulatory Environment of Telecommunications from the 1960s to the 1990s	71	(20)
Part II. Institutions and Policy Making 1969--1979
The Institutional Framework of the Telecommunications Sector in Britain and France 1969--1979: Divergence, Reform, and Standstill	91	(21)
Policy Making in the 1970s: Constraints in Britain, Boldness in France	112	(31)
Part III. Institutions and Policy Making 1980--1997
The Institutional Framework of Telecommunications 1980--1997: National Change, Divergence, and Differences	143	(29)
The Impacts of Institutional Change and Divergence on Policy Making: The Network Operators in Britain and France during the 1980s	172	(33)
Competition in Network Operation 1990--1996: Differing National Paths away from Monopoly	205	(23)
Policy Making in a New Field of Telecommunications: Advanced Networks and Services and Customer Premises Equipment from the Late 1970s to the Mid-1990s	228	(35)
Part IV. Economic Outcomes in Telecommunications 1970--1997
Economic Outcomes in the Telecommunications Sector in Britain and France 1970--1997: Convergence Despite Institutional Divergence	263	(42)
Part V. Conclusions
National Institutions, Policy, and Change	305	(19)
Appendix I: Persons Interviewed	324	(2)
Appendix II: The Use and Interpretation of Statistics in Chapter 11	326	(3)
Appendix III: Conversion Rates Used in Chapter 11	329	(2)
Bibliography	331	(19)
Glossary of Terms	350	(3)
Index	353