Between Expertise and Bureaucracy: How Cybersecurity Policy is Shaped in Japan and the United States

FAIN: FO-283006-22

Benjamin Gosnell Bartlett
Miami University (Oxford, OH 45056-1846)

Research and writing leading to a book comparing the factors that shape cybersecurity policy in Japan and the United States.

Why are some governments better able to adopt and implement cybersecurity policies than others? Despite facing similar challenges, states’ effectiveness in meeting these threats varies. The increasing reliance of governments, firms, and societies on information and communications technology (ICT) makes this a pressing concern for both scholars and policymakers. Yet, there has been surprisingly little work in the social sciences on what governments are doing to improve cybersecurity. This project will address this oversight by advancing our understanding of what determines the policies governments use to reduce the vulnerability of their countries to cyber threats by comparing Japan to a country with a very different approach, the United States. In particular, it looks at the ways in which cybersecurity policy is shaped through the interaction between a common international community of cybersecurity experts and the unique bureaucratic organizations in each country.