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Interest Groups and Contemporary Agricultural Policy: An Examination of Niche Theory

Aug 10, 2015, 10:00am - 11:00am

A Graduate Defense Seminar will be presented by Hannah M.S. Scott, MS Candidate in Rural Sociology, on Monday (8/10) at 10:00 a.m. in 245 Kottman Hall. Hannah will present Interest Groups and Contemporary Agricultural Policy: An Examination of Niche Theory.

Interest organizations endeavor to influence government in ways that are beneficial for their stakeholders, making their activities significant for both theoretical and practical reasons. This research examined the structure of the contemporary agricultural interest group community to explore theoretical questions about whether pluralism exists in agricultural policy making processes and whether agricultural interest groups create policy engagement niches. From a practical perspective, the project examined the contemporary federal agricultural interest group community to assess what groups participate and how. Lobbying disclosure data from the 112th U.S. Congress was analyzed using descriptive statistics and cluster analysis, complemented by organizational interviews. Findings have implications for the niche theory of interest representation, including the competitive exclusion principle, and for understanding federal agricultural policy making processes.