Copyright (c) 2010 Policy Studies Organization All rights reserved. http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet Recent documents in Policy & Internet en-us Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:49:35 PST 3600 http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art5 http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art5 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:19 PST This paper responds to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's request for guidance in designing a national broadband plan. We argue that the U.S. market for Internet services is working well overall, as evidenced by nearly ubiquitous coverage, rapid adoption, large investments, and increasing speeds. Still, the market is not working well for all people in all places, and we offer a framework for considering policies intended to mitigate those issues. The core of the paper consists of nine recommendations. Two of our recommendations are general. First, the government should ensure that its interventions do more good than harm. Second, the government should define clear, measurable, goals that do not benefit particular firms, technologies, or regions. The remaining seven recommendations provide specific guidance for a U.S. broadband plan. They include: liberalizing spectrum, gathering and analyzing data on broadband demand, targeting resources to where they are most needed, defining broadband access to maximize social gain, designing mechanisms that will achieve the government's broadband goals at the lowest social cost, vigorous antitrust enforcement, and designing policies to facilitate rigorous evaluation. Robert Hahn economics http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art4 http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art4 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:17 PST This essay tackles the question of how increased interactions among multiple actors facilitated by the Internet shape patterns of global governance, especially for the Internet itself. The paper argues that in global governance the types of actors, along with their collective understandings and deliberations, shape two different types of multilateral global orders: statist multilateralism and networked multilateralism. This paper employs the language of global governance rather than that of international regimes to distinguish three keys terms for understanding governance: global order, legitimacy and deliberations. These concepts are applied to the case of Internet governance, to the Internet Corporation on Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which is characterized as statist multilateralism, the networked scenarios of the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS), and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The conclusion does not predict the demise of statist multilateralism (as do many analysts examining WSIS and IGF processes) but argues that these newer arrangements are analytically useful for understanding alternative governance arrangements likely to emerge in the future. As such, the concept of networked multilateralism could usefully be applied to cases other than the Internet. J P. Singh http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art3 http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art3 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:15 PST This paper considers 10-14 year olds' adoption of digital technology, and the way in which the developmental tasks of early adolescence are played out within their everyday lives through their widespread interaction with digital media, considering both the social and the psychological processes that take place. It reflects on the concerns that have been expressed about children's use of digital social networking, but also looks at the benefits to children of using the media, and the implications for policymaking.The paper recognises that the widespread adoption of digital technology at this age is deeply embedded in the social context of early adolescents' lives. While the mental processes that take place and the developmental stages have not changed, it may be that digital technology is being used to process some of the tasks of early adolescence, especially in identity formation, the importance and the influence of peers, and the way that emotional support is given and received. An ethnographic study was carried out over two years in the homes of twenty-eight children living in the south-east of England. Research included over 30 hours of filmed observation, diaries, friendship maps, individual interviews, friendship focus groups and an online bulletin board.Early adolescence is viewed as a key stage in which emotional development can affect children's level of wellbeing, and friendship is especially important as they turn from their family to the outside world. In playing with identity, building relationships, maintaining friendships and turning to each other for encouragement and companionship, children gain 'digital agency'. This process may be beneficial and an important source of support and comfort to the young adolescent who is experiencing transition both cognitively, physically, and through change of school. Policy decisions need to be based on a sound understanding of how children use digital technology, raising awareness of the benefits as well as the potential risks, encouraging peer communication and support, and informing parents and teachers of children's digital world. Barbie H. Clarke Social Networking Sites Early Adolescents Policy Implications http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art2 http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art2 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:13 PST Large-scale e-mail campaigns are a staple in the modern environmental movement. Interest groups increasingly use online mobilizations as a way to raise awareness, money, and membership. There are legitimate political, economic, and organizational reasons for doing so, but these gains may come at the expense of a more substantial and efficacious role for citizens who wish to use e-mail to engage in public participation. This paper situates a close examination of the 1000 longest modified MoveOn.org-generated e-mails sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about its 2004 mercury rulemaking, in the broader context of online grassroots lobbying. The findings indicate that only a tiny portion of these public comments constitute potentially relevant new information for the EPA to consider. The vast majority of MoveOn comments are either exact duplicates of a two-sentence form letter, or they are variants of a small number of broad claims about the inadequacy of the proposed rule. This paper argues that norms, rules, and tools will emerge to deal with the burden imposed by these communications. More broadly, it raises doubts about the notion that online public participation is a harbinger of a more deliberative and democratic era. Stuart W. Shulman environmental policy http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art1 http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art1 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:18:12 PST This article looks at the role of the Internet in policymaking, identifying potential policy effects of widespread use of the Internet by citizens, firms, governments and voluntary organizations. It considers how the Internet and Internet-enabled social change might impact upon each of the four 'tools' of government policy - nodality, authority, treasure and organization - and how it might impact upon the mix of tools that policymakers select. It suggests a number of values normally associated with the Internet - innovation, trust, openness and equity - that might be expected to emerge in policy trends. It discusses the implications of Internet-driven change for public policy research, pinpointing some key methodologies that will become increasingly important; generation of large-scale transactional data; network analysis and experimental methods. The article argues that we cannot understand, analyse or make public policy without understanding the technological, social and economic shifts associated with the Internet - a task that the journal Policy & Internet is poised to undertake. Helen Z. Margetts