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The Political Power of Farmers: An English Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Andrew Flynn ,
Philip Lowe  and
Michael Winter
Andrew Flynn
Affiliation:
Department of City and Regional Planning, University of Wales, Cardiff, UK.
Philip Lowe
Affiliation:
Centre for Rural Economy, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Michael Winter
Affiliation:
Countryside and Community Research Unit, Department of Countryside and Landscape, Cheltenham and Goucester College of Higher Education, Cheltenham, UK.
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Extract

England has one of the longest histories of industrialisation and urbanisation of any West European country. This has inevitably had a formative influence in the structuring of its social science research. For political scientists it has involved an almost overwhelming concern with urban political systems and industrial cleavages. An analysis of class based voting has been a major focal point with its implicit assumption that any other cleavages based, for example, on religious or regional identities are marginal or atavistic. Certainly there has been little acknowledgement of any significant urban–rural divide. In consequence the study of rural politics has been something of an intellectual backwater and there has been no attempt to define or identify rural politics as an object of study. The blinkered vision of political scientists is disappointing. It unduly ignores a number of studies that have engaged with mainstream debates and frequently made worthwhile contributions, most notably, with reference to the case of agriculture, in the understanding of relations between government and industry (Cox et al, 1986; Grant, 1983). There are also signs that some political scientists are beginning to reject models of national (i.e. urban) voting behaviour and political systems in favour of more spatially sensitive work in which greater prominence is given to regional and local differences (Dunleavy, 1990; Johnston, 1985, 1987; Johnston et al, 1988).

Type
Research Article
Information
Rural History , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , April 1996 , pp. 15 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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