Deregulating broadcasting: the West European experience

Abstract. This article is concerned with the relationship between systemic and ideological changes affecting West European broadcasting and the nature of the regulatory responses. In theoretical terms the research interest Lies in the question of the extent to which changes in the nature of West European broadcasting regulation are determined by technological factors and forces in the international political economy. Particular attention is given to the factors impeding or constraining deregulation and to the argument that national institutional structures and traditions are mediating the impacts of technology, markets and ideology. Whilst the ultimate effects on future broadcasting regulation remain controversial, certain broad trends can be identified.     

From the Cycle of Deprivation to Social Exclusion: Five Continues

One important aspect of Tony Blair's speech on social exclusion, given to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in York on 5 September 2006, has been ignored-that its content was prefigured by Sir Keith Joseph, in his famous 'cycle of deprivation' speech, on 29 June 1972. This article seeks to explore these continuities over the past thirty-four years, tracing similarities and differences between the two speeches. Moreover, it also reflects on the earlier Joseph speech and subsequent Research Programme, to see where government policies on social exclusion might lead. The article argues that while earlier writers have acknowledged the intellectual debt that New Labour owes to Joseph, and noted similarities between current policy approaches to child poverty and earlier debates about transmitted deprivation, recent moves on social exclusion mean that these continuities are now more striking than ever before.     

Globalization,the European Union,and Domestic Governance in Telecoms and Electricity

The European utilities sectors exemplify the transformation of regulatory capitalism, with far reaching changes occurring at both European Union and domestic levels. Liberalization is the dominant trend, accompanied by the emergence of regulatory regimes designed to promote competition in the imperfect markets characteristic of the utilities sectors. These general trends, however, conceal cross‐sectoral and cross‐national variations in the pace and extent of liberalization and in the composition of the emergent regulatory regimes. This article uses a stepwise comparative method to analyze regulatory change in the electricity and telecoms sectors in Germany and France. It explains the pattern of similarity and variation in terms of the interplay between globalization pressures, the policy transfer effects of EU institutions, and the domestic institutional environment.