Governing European communications : from unification to coordination / Maria Michalis.

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The liberalization of communications markets, especially from the 1980s onward, has witnessed increased regulatory activity within but also above the national state. By examining the European case_concentrating on the European Union, the most advanced example of regionalism_Governing European Communications enhances understanding of the trend toward above-the-national-state regulation, its, drivers and its limitations. Analyzing in detail the origins, dynamics, and evolution of European-level communications governance in the postwar era, Michalis offers a single, comprehensive, and up-to-date account of telecommunications and television policies and regulation and their technological convergence.

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CHOICE Review

By taking into account changes in both the international system and sectoral political economy, Michalis (Univ. of Westminster, UK) analyzes the governance structures that have shaped the evolution of communications policies and regulations in the European Union (EU). Based on primary sources, semi-structured interviews, and other data sources, the book takes the reader on a journey that traces the supranational involvement of Europe in the area of communications since the late 1940s. The formative postwar period of Europeanization that was influenced by reconstruction, the hegemonic position of the US, and the Cold War witnessed the creation of today's basic communications governance arrangements. The technology gap discourse of the 1960s and the global economic turmoil of the 1970s accelerated integration, culminating in the harmonization of technical standards and the involvement in network planning. Backed by European industrial capital, the period of defensive Europeanization from the late 1970s to the mid/late 1980s allowed the EU to emerge as a policy actor in the fields of information and communication technology. Since then, the pro-competition policies of the mid/late 1980s and 1990s have given way to a less prescriptive, horizontal regulatory framework regarding electronic communications. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections. A. E. Wohlers Cameron University