SSRC

This Article considers the implications of the prominence of commercial data in the communications policymaking process. Specifically, this Article considers the kinds of imbalances in policy advocacy and policy decision making that may be created by unequal access to these important data sources by the various stakeholders involved in the policymaking process. Drawing upon theoretical and empirical work related to information asymmetries and knowledge utilization, this Article argues that the contemporary communications policymaking environment is one in which the disparity in resources across various stakeholder groups is amplified by the associated imbalances in access to the commercial data
sources that are increasingly central to policy decision making and to persuasive policy advocacy. This Article therefore proposes a number of solutions to correct this imbalance and thereby reduce the information asymmetries that characterize contemporary communications policy analysis and policy advocacy.