The Politics of Postal Transformation

A critical analysis of the politics involved as postal services and governments juggle technological developments, public expectations, and international pressures in an effort to devise new strategies for the future.

In The Politics of Postal Transformation Robert Campbell investigates and analyses the most important policy innovations in recent years as countries struggle to create a postal regime that matches domestic political expectations with international and technological realities.In The Politics of Postal Transformation Robert Campbell investigates and analyses the most important policy innovations in recent years as countries struggle to create a postal regime that matches domestic political expectations with international and technological realities. Through extensive interviews with numerous key government, regulatory, postal, and union officials in North America, Europe, and Australasia, he identifies four models or strategies, each reflecting particular national characteristics and ambitions: from privatization (Netherlands, Germany) and deregulation (Finland, Sweden, New Zealand) to increased national support (France) and mixed strategies (UK, Australia). Campbell's comparative analysis provides a backdrop for a set of recommendations for policy-makers and lays the foundation for informed speculation about future international postal developments and the possible domination of the system by a select group of postal behemoths.