Abstract
Analyserer amerikansk landbrukspolitikk fra 1800 til 2002. Landbrukslovgivningen i 1996 satte amerikansk landbrukspolitikk i retning av et fritt marked, men denne politikken ble reversert av landbrukslovginingen i 2002. Denne oppgaven spør hvorfor dette skjedde. Fokuserer på strukturelle forklaringer samt den amerikanske "agrarian myth" for å forklare hvorfor landbrukspolittiken ble endret fra fritt marked til store landbruksubsidier i 2002.
På grunn av et skifte tilbake til Democratisk dominans i Kongressen, og en feilslått 1996 farm bill, 2002 valget, sterk landbrukslobby og den agrariske myten så ble ble 1996 farm billen reversert fra en free marked retning tilbake til gamle subsidieordninger.
The central research question of this paper is: Why did the 2002 farm bill increase farm subsidies and change agricultural policy away from the free-market direction of the Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act of 1996? To answer this question this thesis use the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 as a case study. It focusus on strucutral and non-strucutral factors. Also analyzes the importance of the agrarian myth to agricultural policy-outcome.
A change back to a Democratic control of the Senate, a failed previous agricultural legislation, and the 2002 mid-term election were vital factors explaining why the 2002 farm bill increased spending and changed agricultural policy. If the FAIR Act had not failed and the Democratic Party had not gained electoral gains prior to the 2002 farm bill debate the policy-outcome might have been much more in line with a free-market policy idea.