The Emerging Role of Standards Bodies in the Formation of Public Policy

Timothy Schoechle

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2000)

Conventional public policymaking institutions (i.e., congress, the courts, and regulators) have been struggling for years to deal coherently with the social and public policy issues caused by rapid technological advances, particularly in the field of telecommunications. The legislative process is driven largely by powerful competing special interests, and it has ultimately played only a minor role in policymaking, with a legacy of default to judicial processes. As anyone who has watched C-SPAN for any duration of time can tell you, most legislators lack the technical expertise to evaluate these rapidly advancing technologies and are frequently presented with the testimony of convincing but conflicting technical experts.