Straddling the Water’s Edge: How U.S. Big Tech Companies Aim to Shape U.S. Policy in the Intermestic Sphere

With a recognition that Big Tech is a pervasive presence in our day-to-day lives, with a perception of them being in a constant struggle with governments over regulation, the primary aim of this project was to understand whether lobbying by this group of powerful technology companies influenced U.S. intermestic policy, such as it encompasses both the domestic and international. Whilst there was significant literature on general business interest lobbying there was a gap with regard to Big Tech and its influence on U.S. intermestic policy. Using a case study approach consisting of four U.S. policy issues that Big Tech lobbied on, I conducted detailed research to understand why and how Big Tech lobbied to assess whether this lobbying had an influence. Study of Congressional Archives, Big Tech statutory reporting, media articles, along with first-hand input from a varied group of policy issue-specific stakeholders, produced a compelling body of empirical evidence to support my hypothesis. The tools used included a modified form of Baumgartner and Jones’ Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (1991, 1993), in addition to the new and innovative concept Blended Lobbying Strategy, which was developed for this thesis. The key findings being Big Tech are frequently successful in influencing U.S. intermestic policy. With respect to a contribution to new knowledge this thesis sheds light on what has been to date the somewhat veiled practices utilised by Big Tech to protect firm performance, embrace opportunities, and address threats.