The Politics of Telecommunications

National Institutions, Convergences, and Change in Britain and France

Mark Thatcher

Systematic study of the policy making behind the telecommunications industry in Britain and France
In-depth analysis of the implications of privatization
Political analysis of the effects of globalization on the nation state.

The Politics of Telecommunications

National Institutions, Convergences, and Change in Britain and France

Mark Thatcher

Description

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.

The Politics of Telecommunications

National Institutions, Convergences, and Change in Britain and France

Mark Thatcher

Introduction
1: National Institutions, Differences, Stability and Change
2The roots of history: telecommunications in Britain and France before 1969
3 Technological and economic pressures for change in telecommunications from the 1960s to the 1990s
4 Pressures for change from the international regulatory environment of telecommunications from the 1960s to the 1990s
Part Two Institutions and policy making 1969-1979
5The institutional framework of telecommunications in Britain and France 1969-1979: divergence, reform and standstill
6 Policy making in the 1970s: constraints in Britain, boldness in France
Part Three Institutions and policy making 1980-1996
7 The institutional framework of telecommunications 1980-1997: national change, divergence and differences
8The impacts of institutional divergence: the network operators in Britain and France during the 1980s
9 Competition in network operation 1990-1996: differing national paths away from monopoly
10 Policy making in a new field of telecommunications: advanced networks and services and customer premises equipment from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s
Part Four Economic Outcomes
11 Economic outcomes in the telecommunications sector in Britain and France 1970-1997: convergence despite institutional divergence
Part Five Conclusions
12 Conclusion: National Institutions, Policy and Change

The Politics of Telecommunications

National Institutions, Convergences, and Change in Britain and France

Mark Thatcher

Author Information

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

The Politics of Telecommunications

National Institutions, Convergences, and Change in Britain and France

Mark Thatcher

Reviews and Awards

"Excellent and rigorously researched study ... Thatcher's penetrating analysis stresses the limitations, as well as the strengths, of the institutionalist approach ... will be of considerable value to comparative political scientists in general and to analysts of public policy and political economy in particular." - Convergence

"Without recourse to case law or social science jargon, this book will be of interest to political scientists and policy makers, as well as be a rich source of material for anyone attempting to gain a clear and intellectually sound understanding of the causes and dramatic changes that have taken place in recent European telecommunications provisioning history." - Telecommunications Policy

"The Politics of Telecommunications should find a wide readership among those interested in politics, public administration or telecommunications policy design." - Times Higher Education Supplement

"Thatcher's empirical approach, in conjunction with appropriate theory, will help policy-makers to tailor institutional mechanisms to the circumstances of each sector." - Times Higher Education Supplement

"This study is characterised foremostly by profound empirical richness and methodological rigour. These two major qualities make this the most complete analysis to date." - Revue francaise de science politique