Strength in numbers? Public participation in the media ownership proceeding at the FCC

Much has been written about the potential for new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance public participation in the democratic process. The new technologies are described as having the potential to revitalize the public sphere by enabling citizens to gain unprecedented access to government information and allowing them to interact with officials in decision-making at the local, state, and federal levels. Even before the emergence of the Internet as a channel of mass communication, telecommunication and information technologies were forecast to reduce the costs, delays, and problems in management associated with administrative agency rulemaking.

ICTs like the Internet and the Web would appear to have the potential to serve still other necessary functions in the participatory process. In addition to opportunities for communication, effective participation also requires that the public understand the factors involved, identify who has the decision-making authority, and recognize when a decision is likely to be reached in a given proceeding. To these ends, new technologies would seem to offer new outlets for publication, and perhaps function as new common spaces where people can actually practice politics. The deployment of e-government is key in the current Bush administration’s plan to reform government. With the introduction of its www.regulation.gov Website, the federal government offers expanded opportunities for individuals to participate in rulemaking proceedings.

The potential and the promise of new ICTs to reinvigorate and facilitate public participation have been widely theorized. Far less is known however, about whether and how individuals actually use the new capabilities to these ends. Certainly the new channels are rapidly becoming tools that serve users as consumers by facilitating their ability to conduct commerce on-line. What is not so clear is whether these technologies can also serve users as citizens by facilitating their ability to participate in the public decision-making process.

This study examines the role of ICTs in public participation in administrative agency rulemaking. It focuses on the 2003 media ownership rulemaking proceeding before the Federal Communications Commission. The proceeding generated substantial public interest and included extensive use of ICTs by the Commission, public interest groups, and many individuals. This research examines the extent to which the potential of ICTs to facilitate effective public participation in administrative rulemaking was actually realized in this proceeding.