Malorie Sneed

Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Fitzgerald, Keith

Keywords

Animal Welfare, Legislation, Case Studies, Politics

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

Farm animal welfare legislation regulates the well-being of animals during their lives on factory farms. The recent passage of citizen-initiated ballot measures and legislation in several states suggests that certain factors play a role in the passage of this legislation. The goal of this thesis was to understand which factors have contributed to the success of this legislation. This study posits that education, agribusiness activity, political ideology, and party identification influence the passage of farm animal welfare legislation. I conducted quantitative correlational tests between these four factors and the presence of farm animal welfare legislation. I found that ideology appears to be a significant factor in aiding the passage of this legislation. Qualitative case studies of Florida, California, and Rhode Island revealed that citizen-initiated ballot measures, as well as state legislation, are two avenues that have been successful in advancing farm animal welfare. Effective farm animal welfare legislation indicates that the legal welfarism approach is, in fact, consistent with the aim of furthering animal rights. The doctrine of legal welfarism does perpetuate the property status of animals, but farm animal welfare legislation improves the lives of animals much more effectively than any attempt to secure their formal legal rights.

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