Fertile Fields the Agrarian Myth and Political Access

Erin Boydstun

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Lewis, Eugene

Keywords

Agricultural Policy, American Farm Bureau, Resettlement Administration, American Political Development, New Deal

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

This thesis is a case study of the lives of the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Resettlement Administration. These organizations originated within the economic and environmental crises of the 1920s through the 1940s. Both groups set out to assist and support the suffering agrarian sector of America while their respective constituencies were composed of socio-economic extremes. The Resettlement Administration and American Farm Bureau Federation, their actions, and the eventual struggle for resource dominance illustrates crucial determinant factors for organizational survival. The examination of organizational growth, decline, and death demonstrates the importance of goals, constituencies, interorganizational power, structure, external contacts, and interdependence for the sustained and successful existence of bureaucracies. By placing the two models into their particular contexts and tracing their respective success or failure, the process of the establishment of modern bureaucracies is illuminated. With this insight, future organizational responses to the increasing agricultural crises in America and how the Federal government will intervention in modern crises can be better forseen.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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