Recent work in political science asserts a growth in prominence of civil society in international public policy processes, something that has been to this point under-addressed in the field of public policy research in communication. This article undertakes an analysis of the role of civil society in the recent EU policy debate on re-allocation of spectrum, one of the most strategically significant communication resources. The article explains the presence of the voice of civil society through construction of a model of international civil society strategic alignment and application of it to the spectrum case. The case provides evidence of how, in an environment generally dominated by state and commercial interests, civil society actors have been able to articulate influentially – though ultimately in a limited way - their public policy preferences
