ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the concept of ecology of games. The idea of ecology of games, old as it is, provides a new way to think about the social and political shaping of world communications. Personal careers, corporate profits, national cultures, and the public's welfare are among the stakes in the games shaping communications. The chapter provides a more concrete, empirical grounding for it by describing the ecology of games shaping telecommunications policy in the United States. It compares aspects of the ecology with the ecology of games surrounding communications policy in other nations, and shows how the ecology of games can be linked to several factors, such as legal-institutional arrangements and explains the dynamics of a nation's communications policy. The chapter reviews strengths and weaknesses of communications policy approach, not to validate an interpretation, but to suggest a line of inquiry that could be pursued in a variety of communication policy areas.
