The author, who served as one of the five commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission for several years, explains why this and other government agencies that are not set up with separation of powers in mind end up undermining the rule of law. (Amazon.com)

INTRODUCTION
Congress rarely passes major new laws overhauling an agency. One recent example, however, was the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the Act). That law substantially added to the responsibilities of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent agency that combines all of the powers of government.

The communications sector has been on an economic roller coaster since the passage of the Act. Hard times followed good times. The Act has been lionized in the good times and vilified in the bad. Yet it has never actually been followed. It is perhaps the fate of many laws not to be implemented precisely as Congress intended, but this piece of legislation is unusually distant—almost alien—from the actions taken in its name.

Many observers blame the Act in part for the poor performance of the communications sector, which is exposed daily to the regulations of the FCC under it. When economic conditions weaken, the government is a convenient and often irresistible target of blame.

Congress is not happy with the economic outcomes under the Act. Indeed, many of those who voted for it in 1996 are surprised by the evolution of the communications sector. Whether liberal or conservative, expectations of the implementation of the Act have not been fulfilled. Hardly anyone is pleased with it, despite ballooning FCC budgets. Perhaps the Act was too tough to follow.

As it considers rewriting the Act, Congress is getting plenty of advice about how to improve communications law. Practically all of it focuses on small refinements to policy: a little twist here, a little tightening there. Next time, perhaps, the FCC will implement the law better. What is needed now, or so most would-be advisors suggest, is an updated policy to reflect changes in technology.

This book suggests a different interpretation: Congress and the other branches of government will not be entirely satisfied with the FCC’s implementation of any law as long as the agency exercises all of the powers of the different branches of government. The solution for Congress is to reintroduce a concept that Americans adopted more than two centuries ago: separation of powers. ...

Visit A Tough Act to Follow?: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Separation of Powers Failure Download Page

You can download A Tough Act to Follow?: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Separation of Powers Failure in PDF format.

Harold W. Furchtgott-Roth
The AEI Press
Publisher for the American Enterprise Institute

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Harold Furchtgott-Roth was a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission from 1997 through 2001. Previously, he served as chief economist for the House Committee on Commerce and was a principal staff member responsible for developing the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

He founded Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises, an economic consulting firm, in 2003. He writes a weekly column for the business page of the New York Sun. This book was written while he was a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (2001–03). Mr. Furchtgott-Roth is the author of dozens of publications and the coauthor of three books. He received a PhD in economics from Stanford University and an SB in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He and his wife, Diana, reside in Chevy Chase, Maryland with their six children.

Comments (1)

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment