The development of cable television policy : representation of interests in deregulation in 1984 and reregulation in 1992

The purpose of this study is to understand and explain both the deregulation and subsequent reregulation policies for cable television as part of a national telecommunications regulatory system. The regulatory policies evolved incrementally with both national and local components. A case study methodology is used to analyze the participation of group interests in the political process, with primary attention on the role of organized interests. The focus of the analysis of group interest participation is undertaken in the framework of their influence on Congressional policy decision making. Three central purposes guide the analysis. The first is to explain why cable television was freed from regulation in 1984, then returned to extensive regulation in 1992. The second is to fit insights and observations drawn from the particular cases studied with the literature on interest groups. One particular variable examined, which is not well treated in the literature, is that of the affect of technological change on policy decisions. The third purpose is to consider whether there are lessons to be drawn from the examination of cable deregulation and reregulation that can add to the general understanding of regulatory policy development and the role of groups in that process. The conclusion of the study is that technological advances occur in the field of telecommunications in a very rapid fashion. However, the deliberative traditions of Congress as it contemplates policy decisions serve to both mitigate against policy decisions that favor short-lived technological developments and to provide broad ranging access for various groups in the best traditions of pluralism. Establishing regulatory policy for telecommunications was found to be more of an iterative process than a terminal objective.