Political and civic engagement of agriculture producers who operate in selected Idaho and Texas counties dependent on irrigation

Date

2007-08

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Tech University

Abstract

Public policy is something that affects all citizens that are governed by the civilization that they live within. We in the United States of America have elected to establish and maintain a system of government called a Democratic Republic. This system relies on the adherence to a set of premises as a basis of policy development and implementation. The first of these is that no policy may contradict that of a higher governing authority. In our country the highest governing authority and ideal is prescribed by the Constitution of the United States.

The constitution among other things maintains that the wishes of the majority may not violate the rights of the minority. This is largely the motivation that results in a rather lengthy process that takes place to the end of a policy being implemented. Early phases of the process are commonly initiated as a result of some form of public discontent over an issue. When sufficient attention is drawn to this discontent the investigative phase of policy development will begin.

This study was conducted to ascertain the scope and extent to which professional agriculture producers in selected counties of Idaho and Texas engage in processes that influence the crafting of public policy. The predominant criterion for selecting the counties of interest was the extent that irrigation water was relied upon for production. In accordance with focusing on counties that are highly watered, the survey instrument specifically inquired of historic producer action pursuant to water policy development.

Description

Keywords

Idaho, Political engagement, Civic engagement

Citation