Farmed out: agricultural lobbying in a polarized congress

In 'Farmed Out', Clare R. Brock uses U.S. agricultural policy as a vehicle to explain how the rapidly polarising political environment has altered the role of interest groups in Washington. Drawing on over two decades of lobbying behaviour data in the agricultural sector, Brock argues that polarisation has given interest groups greater influence over policy content, particularly among their ideological and partisan allies. Brock makes an important and original contribution to our understanding of how interest groups now operate within a context of heightened partisanship, lengthened time horizons, and declining institutional capacity.

"Farmed Out uses U.S. agricultural policy as a vehicle to understand how the rapidly polarizing political environment has altered the role of interest groups in Washington. Often understudied, agricultural policy impacts the livelihood of millions, the success of thousands of companies, the implementation (or lack thereof) of nationwide conservation efforts, and the diet, health, and pocketbooks of hundreds of millions. This book argues that polarization has given interest groups greater influence over policy content. Ironically, that same polarization regularly frustrates the capacity of groups to push Washington forward on policy change in a timely fashion, especially in the case of low salience legislation where bipartisan collaboration matters most. Additionally, Congressional capacity for research and fact-finding is at a historical low. In response to the changing political climate, the book asks: How have interest groups, who still seek influence, modified their strategies in response to this newly polarized and information-sparse political climate; and what implications does this have for interest groups' influence on policy? Farmed Out answers these questions by looking at lobbying in the agricultural sector across two decades to discover changing patterns. The book demonstrates how party polarization expands and alters the role that interest groups play in policy construction and the negotiation process. It illustrates that interest groups have adapted their strategies and, consequently, become even more powerful in their influence. Farmed Out points to the importance of behind-the-scenes coalition building in the policy process and how these often-unnoticed processes shape public policy for better or worse."