Gaining Access: Congress and the Farm Lobby, 1919-1981Through a comprehensive analysis of American agricultural politics in the past half-century, Gaining Access shows when, how, and why interest groups gain and lose influence in the policy deliberations of the United States Congress. By consulting with policy advocates, John Mark Hansen argues, lawmakers offset their uncertainty about the policy stands that will bolster or impede their prospects for reelection. The advocates provide legislators with electoral intelligence in Washington and supportive propaganda at home, earning serious consideration of their policy views in return. From among a multitude of such informants, representatives must choose those they will most closely consult. With evidence from congressional hearings, personal interviews, oral histories, farm and trade journals, and newspapers, Hansen traces the evolution of farm lobby access in Congress. He chronicles the rise and fall of the American Farm Bureau, the surge and decline of party politics, the incoporation of the commodity lobbies, the exclusion of the consumer lobbies, and the accommodation of urban interests in food stamps. Brilliantly combining insights from rational choice theory with historical data, Gaining Access is an essential guide for anyone interested in the dynamics of interest group influence. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
A Theory of Access | 11 |
The Origins of Access in Agriculture 19191932 | 26 |
The Maintenance of Access in Agriculture 19331947 | 78 |
A Theory of Access Amplifications and Extensions | 101 |
The Erosion of Access in Agriculture 19481981 | 112 |
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Common terms and phrases
1st session 80th Congress access in agriculture agrarian agri Agricultural Adjustment Act agricultural policy American Farm Bureau American Political April Business Week campaign chap Chicago commodity competitive advantage congressional constituents consumer Corn Belt cotton December Democrats district economic Eisenhower elections electoral Eugene Butler Ezra Taft Benson farm bill farm bloc Farm Bureau Federation farm groups farm lobby farm organizations farm policy farm price farm program farm relief farm vote Farmers Union February food prices food stamp program Grange Growers Haugen hereafter Hearings House Agriculture Committee Illinois interest group access Iowa issue January Journal July June Kansas leaders legislators lobby's March Marvin Jones members of Congress Midwest midwestern Nation's Agriculture National November O'Neal October partisan Peek percent Poage president price supports recurrence representatives Republican Robert Schapsmeier Senate September Serial South southern tion University Press urban voters Wallace WDWF What's wheat William World Report York
Popular passages
Page 237 - Milton Friedman, Essays in Positive Economics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953). 6. Paul A. Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1947), chapters 5 and 6; and Milton Friedman, "The Demand for Money: Some Theoretical and Empirical Results," Journal of Political Economy 67 (August 1959): 327-51.