Agricultural and Regional Policy

Abstract

There is an emerging literature on the regional and agricultural policies of states. In regards to the agricultural dimension, these studies have focused mostly on state-farmer relations, state structures, and on a European model of agricultural policy (Rynning-Roederer, 2007: 212). In regards to state-farmer relations, these studies have emphasized the strong, quasi-institutionalized, and exclusive partnerships between state and farmers; powerful national peak farm organizations, often generously subsidized by the state; and the exclusion of non-farm interests from agricultural policy-making. By virtue of these partnerships, farmers benefited from an extended discretionary power over decision-making, and overtook key areas of implementation. The state, in return, could count on the support of farmers to undertake the necessary restructuring of this sector while delegating to farm leaders the responsibility of administering painful reforms. In regards to state structures, there was a focus on how different state structures, defined with reference to the strong/weak states or centralized/decentralized state dichotomies, affect policy efficiency and the possibility for agency capture at the national level.