Book ID: CBB651045978

Sovereign Skies: The Origins of American Civil Aviation Policy (2021)

unapi

A pathbreaking history of the regulatory foundations of America's twentieth-century aerial preeminence.Today, the federal government possesses unparalleled authority over the atmosphere of the United States. Yet when the Wright Brothers inaugurated the air age on December 17, 1903, the sky was an unregulated frontier. As increasing numbers of aircraft threatened public safety in subsequent decades and World War I accentuated national security concerns about aviation, the need for government intervention became increasingly apparent. But where did authority over the airplane reside within America's federalist system? And what should US policy look like for a device that could readily travel over physical barriers and political borders?In Sovereign Skies, Sean Seyer provides a radically new understanding of the origins of American aviation policy in the first decades of the twentieth century. Drawing on the concept of mental models from cognitive science, regime theory from political science, and extensive archival sources, Seyer situates the development, spread, and institutionalization of a distinct American regulatory idea within its proper international context. He illustrates how a relatively small group of bureaucrats, military officers, industry leaders, and engineers drew upon previous regulatory schemes and international principles in their struggle to define government's relationship to the airplane. In so doing, he challenges the current domestic-centered narrative within the literature and delineates the central role of the airplane in the reinterpretation of federal power under the commerce clause. By placing the origins of aviation policy within a broader transnational context, Sovereign Skies highlights the influence of global regimes on US policy and demonstrates the need for continued engagement in world affairs. Filling a major gap in the historiography of aviation, it will be of interest to readers of aviation, diplomatic, and legal history, as well as regulatory policy and American political development.

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Reviewed By

Review F. Robert van der Linden (April 2022) Review of "Sovereign Skies: The Origins of American Civil Aviation Policy". Technology and Culture (pp. 559-561). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB651045978/

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Authors & Contributors
Samuel P. Hanes
DeLeon, Peter
M. Houston Johnson
Danika Bellamy-Sankar
Melina Piglia
Charles Blanchard
Concepts
Technology and government
Regulation
Aviation, commercial
Aeronautics; aviation
Safety
Technology transfer
Time Periods
20th century
Modern
21st century
20th century, late
20th century, early
19th century
Places
United States
United Kingdom
Southern states (U.S.)
Argentina
Latin America
Japan
Institutions
Pan American World Airways
Aerolíneas Argentinas
United States. National Security Agency
Federal Aviation Administration
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