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.
