The Politics of Neocorporatism in France: Farmers, the State, and Agricultural Policymaking in the Fifth Republic,Used

Product DescriptionThe widespread development of neocorporatisma process in which certain interest groups derive power from their privileged relationship with the state and formal participation in public policymaking rather than through traditional lobbying or pressure tacticshas recently attracted considerable scholarly attention. This penetrating study focuses on the emergence of the most powerful agricultural union (FNSEA) as a force in French politics, the trends toward corporatization and decorporatization of the agricultural sector, and the governmental efforts at reform and decorporatization in Mitterrand's France. Keeler introduces a new, sectororiented theoretical framework suitable for analyzing the corporatization process in any democratic polity. The book also offers a general model of the "corporatist imperative" in the agricultural sector of democratic polities and tests this model with comparative case studies of the United States, Britain, Italy, and West Germany.Review"Excellent...Will be seen as an important contribution to the theoretical debate about neocorporatism, as well as a firstrate empirical account of agricultural syndicalism's development during the past 40 years....All students of contemporary France will be in [Keeler's] debt."French Politics and Society"An excellent and much needed indepth study of 'farmers, the state, and agricultural policymaking in the Fifth Republic,'....The importance of the work is not, however, limited to the quality of the case study alone. The analysis reveals the complexity of the whole question of interest intermediation, and the need to examine sectors on an individual and comparative basis."Canadian Journal of Political Science"To be welcomed for several reasons. First, it provides one of the first detailed case studies of stateinterest gruop relations in France, and as such begins to fill a large gap in our understanding of contemporary French politics. It also provides a wealth of information about French agriculture, and in particular about its structures of organization and representation at both local and national levels....Makes an important contribution to the corporatist debate itself."Political Studies"An invaluable and indispensable contribution to our understanding of the complex relationship between the state and society in France's Fifth Republic."Stanley Hoffmann, Harvard University"This book makes an important contribution to our understanding of the making of agricultural policies, of the role of the state in the policymaking process, and of trade unionism in France."Ezra N. Suleiman, Princeton University"This excellent study...is based on extensive interviews with union and state officials. A valuable addition to upperdivision and graduate collections."ChoiceAbout the AuthorJohn T. S. Keeler, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Washington.