Determinants of Agricultural and Food Policy Decisions in the U.S.

Purpose and Scope IntrcxiuctionThe Food Security Act of 1985 signals an historic event in the armuals of public policy for the agricultural and food sector of this nation.Arising fran the widest participation and encanpassing the JJ¥JSt canprehensive content in the long chain of agricultural policies, it has also confounded many professional policy watchers.Its impacts will be far , • reaching and long lasting.As students of policy research and practice ponder this increment to our base of mq>erience, it again raises fundamental questions about the nature of the policy phenanenon, its developnent, its determinants, and its future meaning.Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of U.S. policy in general and the 1985 Act in particular.It will proceed through five sections: (1) purpose, definitions, and scope; (2) an historical perspective; {3) conceptual framework; ( 4) synthesis of public policy determinants and the 1985 Act; and(5) summary.This examination will focus on the determinants of :public policy in contrast to private policy and on policy of a participatory political system in contrast to an authoritarian system of government in which processes are structured to limit participation to a single interest group or only a few segments of society.Even though U.S. public agricultural and food policy will provide the base of experience,.theinplications will probably be releva.11tto other countries where ~ticipatory processes fonn governmental decision-mcldng regardless of their types of representation.Presented to a conference on Agricultural Policy in the U.S.