The FCC and the Politics of Cable TV Regulation, 1952-1980: Organizational Learning and Policy Development

Zarkin (political science, Westminster College) studies the evolution of Federal Communication Commission regulation of cable television between 1952 and 1980, in the process seeking theoretical insight into the broader question of the politics of regulatory agency policymaking. His discussion of the changing practices of the FCC with regard to cable television aims to demonstrate the explanatory power of policy learning theory over principal-agent and post-positivist discourse theories as alternatives. His approach, he argues, allows for understanding the role of experience and expert knowledge, while simultaneously providing an integrative perspective on the role of institutional arrangements, external political forces, and internal agency policy making and, because of its emphasis on the accumulation of experience and new knowledge over time, is suitable for analyzing policy change over the course of several decades. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)