Abstract
This paper investigates how technological, international and political ideological factors have altered the range of postal policy possibilities.1 Public postal regimes exist tenuously in a hostile environment of fax machines, ATMs, and e-mail. The Posts compete against large multinational express companies and each other. Prodded by deregulation and liberalization, Posts have developed an international reach, buying private sector companies and entering into alliances with private and public competitors. These changes have unfolded within the neo-conservative agenda, which encouraged and facilitated these developments. As a new debate develops as to the character of the ‘post-neoconservative’ era,2 postal policy is on the cusp of a new era.
The funding for this research was provided by the Donner (Canada) Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The final results will be published as a book later this year.
The countries examined included: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States. Each country was visited and interviews were held with Post, government, regulatory, union and user group representatives.
For an overview of this issue, see R. Campbell, 113–150.
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References
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Campbell, R.M. (2001). Regulatory and Governance Changes in Liberalized, Commercialized Postal Environments. In: Crew, M.A., Kleindorfer, P.R. (eds) Future Directions in Postal Reform. Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy Series, vol 38. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1671-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1671-2_5
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