Decline of Agrarian Democracy

By Grant McConnell

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689701403
• ISBN13: 9780689701405
• Release Date: January 1969
• Publisher: Scribner
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Farmer's impact on policy in the 20th century

It is difficult to imagine how agriculture could have such an important impact on both economy and politics today but in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, its bearing was monumental. In the corner of agriculture, Grant McConnell tells a story of the common man, his aspirations and the transition to large scale agriculture, farming and livestock production and how it was organized throughout America. Grant McConnell was a Professor Emeritus at the University of California: Santa Cruz, was educated at Harvard University, was an officer in the Navy during WWII and passed away in 1993 at age 78. He had published several books concerning economics and politics of the mid-nineteenth century and spent most of his years in academia in various political science departments at college and universities throughout the country. During the 19th century, the majority of men were farmers. However, a transition was seen at the turn of the century when governmental agencies began playing a part in even agriculture through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, political parties and pressure groups. McConnell's main argument in The Decline of Agrarian Democracy is that the "ascendancy of the Farm Bureau in agrarian politics represents a sharp break with the great agrarian democratic movements of the nineteenth century. Whereas the earlier groups arose in protest against new systems of power which were developing out of the raw and turbulent capitalism of the era, the dominant farmer pressure group of the mid-twentieth century is itself a new power structure which, rather the traditional agrarian distrust of power, seeks to extend its power over every level of government." McConnell begins this work explaining what agrarianism was in America's past and who its supporters were, citing those such as Thomas Jefferson. Politicians like Jefferson, also a gentlemen farmer, believed these individuals played an integral part in shaping the country. With technology and manufacturing to come in the years following, the methods and ways of farming would obviously change and with a shift from rural to urban living was seen, so was, McConnell argues, the shift of power. Additionally, with the creation of the American government and bureaucracy, McConnell argues, agriculture changed as well. What McConnell desired to shed light on, if anything, is that the organized minority (in this case, agricultural) was much more powerful than an unorganized majority. Out of this organization of farmers came the Farm Bureau Federation. The Farm Bureau grew like wild fire and eventually had local, regional and national representatives. With governmental bureaucracy comes power divisions and in many cases, goes hand in hand with governmental lobbying and interest groups, and the Farm Bureau became just that. "The urge for power has been so great that Congressman, the United States Department of Agriculture, and all other agencies, including rival farm groups, have