Government assessment of FCC performance: Recurring patterns and implications for recent reform efforts

This article examines the process of government analysis of FCC performance. Both the executive and legislative branches have a long history of commissioning studies of the FCC. This paper presents an analysis of these studies, concluding that they present an inaccurate portrait of FCC behavior. The findings and recommendations of these studies suggest that government- commissioned analyses are not only used as signals of displeasure with FCC performance, but also as tools whereby Congress and the White House compete for increased influence over the Commission. These findings raise a number of important implications for current efforts to reform the FCC in the wake of the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.