THE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN AGRICULTURE ON POLITICAL LIFE IN THE NORTH AMERICAN REGION

Summary The Impact of Changes in Agriculture on Political Life in the North American Region This paper follows a general approach to the above topic, although agricultural change in the English‐speaking Carribean nations has not progressed in the same manner as in the United States and Canada. Three general areas of social change are reviewed. These include: 1. Changes in the relationship of people to the land, 2. Changes in the interpersonal relations of ruralites, 3. Changes in rural social institutions. The impact of change on political institutions is described at both the local and national level. At the local level, increasing demands for improvements in services, increasing use of technology, and an evergrowing demand for subsidy, credit, and welfare programs have served to modify the traditional autonomous, familistic patterns of government to more centralized and integrated operations. At the national level, the changing political scene is analyzed in terms of four sources of power which have been traditional with agricultural systems. First, the legislative power of agriculture is diminishing as the farm vote drops and rural‐oriented legislators are retired. Second, agricultural political power derived from championing a ‘grassroots ideology’ is being lost in an emerging urban‐industrial ideology. Third, agriculture is having to form coalitions and compromises with many new and diverse groups which could be ignored in past power struggles. Finally, the emerging source of political power of agricultural systems, is seen most clearly in its control of the ‘expertise’ in food and fiber production.