Description
Book SynopsisModern farm policy emerged in the United States in 1862, leading to an industrialized agriculture that made the farm sector collectively more successful even as many individual farmers failed. This title blends history, politics, and economics to show that federal government emphasis on farm productivity has failed to meet broader rural needs.
Trade ReviewBrowne's criticisms of analytic knowledge provide a users' perspective on policy research that should be read by all those wishing to engage policymakiers with their analytical findings... The book stands as an important case study of the interaction of interests and institutions in national policymaking and is important reading for the rural policy community. Journal of Regional Science
Table of ContentsPreface 1. A Troubled Rural Society: Misperceptions of Farming 2. Other Social Misperceptions that Miss Rural Problems 3. An Institutional Perspective 4. Rural Policy as Farm Policy 5. The Agragrian Myth as Fundamentalist Vision 6. Collective versus Selective Benefits and Farm Interests 7. Basic Rural Problems Gain Attention-Almost 8. Concentrated but Fragmented Public Institutions 9. The Resulting Fragmentation of Policy 10. The Impossible Task of Rural Advocacy 11. The Rural Poverty Mess 12. Understanding Congressional Anomalies 13. The Environmental Policy Contrast 14. A Final Explanation Notes Index
