Book Reviews : British Broadcasting. By R. H. COASE. (Cambridge, Massachusettes: Harvard University Press. 1950. Pp. ix, 206. $2.75.)
| DOI | 10.1177/106591295100400323 |
| Date | 01 September 1951 |
| Author | Phillips Bradley |
| Published date | 01 September 1951 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
506
any
reading
list
in
the
social
sciences
would
be
improved
by
an
assign..
ment
or
two
that
would
open
up
to
the
student
the
wealth
and
variety
of
this
enduring
work.
The
time
has
come
for
another
revision.
This
writer
would
like
to
suggest
that
Professor Friedrich
expand
his
book
into
a
multivolume
trea-
tise.
The
final
volume
might
well
take
the
form
of
an
extended
essay
on
the
conditions
of
constitutionalism,
for
it
is
here
that
this
book
has
its
deeoest
sienif icance. -
- y
p
BERNARD
L.
KRONICK.
Sacramento
State
College.
British
Broadcasting.
By
R.
H.
COASE.
(Cambridge,
Massachusettes:
Har-
vard
University
Press.
1950.
Pp.
ix,
206.
$2.75.)
The
focus
of
this
interesting
study
of
the
B.B.C.
is
indicated
by
its
subtitle,
&dquo;A
Study
in
Monopoly.&dquo;
The
author
traces
briefly
the
develop-
ment
of
radio
in
England,
and
analyzes
public
policy
in
regard
to
it
from
the
years
of
private
monopoly
in
the
early
1920’s
through
the
formation
of
the
government
corporation
in
1927
and
into
the
present
decade.
Dr.
Coase
reviews
two
main
aspects
of
the
B.B.C.
monopoly.
First,
he
traces
the
&dquo;public
discussion&dquo;
of
the
question
in
official
committee
re-
ports,
the
press,
trade
papers,
etc.
Second,
he
traces
the
attitudes
of
various
British
governments
as
reflected
in
Parliamentary
debates
and
official
rep-
resentations
to
foreign
governments.
The
record
he
presents
is
of
an
apparently
increasing
support
of
the
principle
of
public
monopoly
in
radio
broadcasting.
Although
the
report
of
the
most
recent
official
study,
the
Beveridge
Committee,
was
not
available
to
the
author
when
he
wrote,
it
supports
the
continuance
of
exclusive
B.B.C.
control.
The
forces
which
have
played
on
successive
governments
to
establish
or
maintain
the
policy
have
been
varied.
The
radio
manufacturing
industry
itself,
which
initiated
the
first
broadcasting
company
(private),
operated
under
a
license
limiting
profits
to
seven
and
one-half
per
cent.
This
in-
centive
was
not
enough
to
make
it
push
very
hard
to
maintain
private
operation.
Many
official
and
unofficial
British
observers
of
the
mushroom-
ing
broadcasting
industry
in
the
United
States
during
the
early
1920’s
were
impressed
by
its
administrative
&dquo;chaos&dquo;
and
the
rapid
commerciali-
zation
of
an
obvious
national
cultural
asset.
In
Britain,
the
Post
Office
was
concerned
by
possible
competition
with
its
telephone
and
telegraph
monopolies
(e.g.,
through
private
relay
services).
Military
and
other
government
services
wished
to
insure
the
availability
of
radio
for
defense
use.
Thus,
few
influential
private
interests
were
actively
promoting
private
control,
but
powerful
public
agencies
were
strongly
in
favor
of
public
monopoly.
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