How and why to de-politicize the FCC

[Commentary] One of the worst things you can do to a regulatory agency is politicize it. Politicized agencies bend to the ever-changing winds of politics, which creates problems for industry and consumers alike. This straightforward lesson is one I have taught government agencies around the world. They seem to get it. Meanwhile, our very own FCC still has to make the small but crucial first step required to start the de-politicization process.

We try to keep regulatory agencies at arm’s length from politics to ensure that economic decisions regarding critical industries do not become the victim of political rent seeking. Actually, this is why infrastructure regulation is typically placed in agencies like the FCC, which are designed to be independent. If we fail in this, then regulatory decisions are pushed one direction and then another by whichever way the political winds are blowing. De-politicizing an agency requires a realignment of loyalties and generally takes effective leadership from the head of the agency, other commissioners, and people outside the agency. While de-politicizing isn’t easy, it is not impossible.

[Jamison is the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida and serves as its director of telecommunications studies.]