Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Stone, Mary N.

English

Research Papers in Economics

EDUCATION  ON PUBLIC POLICY
IN AGRICULTURE  THROUGH THE LEAGUE
OF WOMEN VOTERS
Mary N.  Stone
League of Women Voters Education  Fund
The  topic  of this  section-joint public  policy  education  oppor-
tunities-speaks  to the heart  and soul of the League of Women
Voters.  No  other organization  in American  political experience  has
been  so identified  in the  public mind  with the concept  of educating
citizens on issues and encouraging citizens to vote  and participate  in
the policy process as informed individuals.
The League  was founded in  1920  as an outgrowth  of the women's
suffrage  movement.  At the  time  of its founding  and  since,  the
League has acted on the belief that policy issues are not for the few,
but for the  many; that citizens  have an important role  to play in the
governmental  process  and  a  responsibility  to communicate  their
views on policy  to decision  makers;  and,  perhaps  most charac-
teristically,  that a basis  of unbiased,  thorough and  wide-ranging  in-
formation is a key component  of responsible citizen  action.
In  1920,  when  women  were first enfranchised,  League  leaders
saw  policy education  as  a necessary  tool for women  first approach-
ing the voter role.  However,  the need  of all citizens for information
quickly  led the League  to become a provider  of information  on pol-
icy issues at all levels of government:  national,  state  and local.  Edu-
cation and  action  were the dual facets  of the League's  approach  to
policy.
The League's  work on issues occurs through  a network of 111,000
members  plus thousands of friends of the League.  The structure  of
the League includes the  national League  of Women  Voters of the
United States (LWVUS),  50  state Leagues,  and 1,200  local Leagues.
In  1957,  the LWVUS  created  the League  of Women  Voters Educa-
tion Fund (LWVEF)  as a research and citizen education organiza-
tion.  In keeping  with this purpose,  the  LWVEF conducts  special
projects and programs on a variety of critical policy issues, sponsors
presidential  debates  and offers  other services  to voters.  A major
asset  of the LWVEF's  policy education work  is its access  to the
83League  of Women Voters' network.  In turn, the LWVEF provides
the  substantive  information  and  the  resources  to  enable League
leaders to stimulate thoughtful public  dialogue.
Over the years, League members have not shrunk from  policy ed-
ucation  on  very  complicated  issues:  national  issues such as  tax pol-
icy,  welfare policy or national security;  state issues like election laws
or environmental  protection;  local issues  like  local  taxation,  educa-
tion issues or zoning.  In  1986,  at the League's biennial national  con-
vention,  delegates  adopted  a two-year  study  of federal  agriculture
policy,  surely one  of the most complicated  subjects  ever.  The  study
arose  from apparent  member  concerns about the farm crisis  at that
time,  about the high cost of farm programs  in a nation  with record-
setting budget  deficits,  and about the plight of the "family farm."
Now the final stages of the League's initial two-year study are ap-
proaching.  What can we see resulting from this effort that will affect
policy education opportunities on food and agriculture issues?
First, the study means that the League is now  "into"  agriculture-
at least  into the basics.  League members  know  the basics of key
issues,  having  studied  material provided  by the  League  of Women
Voters  Education  Fund,  having probed  issues and  picked brains at
the state and local level,  and having (I suspect) contacted many of
you in this room for information or with requests to speak at League
meetings.
The  concerns that League  members  have  expressed  as they  pro-
ceeded  with the study indicate a number  of interests related  to fed-
eral agriculture  policy.  League members  do not disagree with the
customary purposes  listed in most preambles to farm legislation:  pro-
duction  of adequate  supplies  of food and  fiber  at reasonable  prices
to consumers while allowing farmers a reasonable return on their in-
vestment  and  labor.  Leagues  are also attracted by  the possibility  of
increased  reliance  on the free market to determine the prices  of ag-
ricultural  commodities.  Government  assistance in expanding foreign
markets  for U.S.  agricultural  products also appeals  to League  mem-
bers,  but they  are  also concerned  about the  health of developing
countries'  economies.
League members  are very  enthusiastic about the importance of
research and technical assistance  to the agricultural sector.  Farm
credit  is another  issue  of their concern;  they think it  is  appropriate
for the federal government  to make sure that farm  credit is available
under reasonable  terms.  Most of all,  perhaps,  they are attracted  by
the idea of an agricultural system maintained with due regard for
preserving  and safeguarding natural resources.  Interest  in and curi-
osity about sustainable agriculture  have been  something of a hall-
mark of the League  study.  It seems safe  to say that the  League will
be  a committed  citizen presence  on agricultural  policy issues in the
future.
84The next few years  represent  a crucial  stage for those who are
concerned  about the future  of U.S.  agriculture  policy.  The  well-
being  of the  farm sector  is affected  as  never before  by  mac-
roeconomic  policies  that shape  the price  of commodities,  the  affor-
dability of credit and the value of farm land.  U.S. farmers operate  in
a complicated  international  environment.  Their lives and income are
affected,  not only by decisions  made in  Washington and by consum-
ers across the United  States,  but also by decisions made in  Seoul,  in
the  European  Community  (EC),  in Tokyo,  in Brazil and in  Ottowa.
The interdependence  of the economies  of the world  is a notable po-
litical  fact.
The fiscal circumstances  of federal  budget constraints  in a
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings  age  further  complicate the  approach to
agriculture  policy.  Additional  complexity  comes  from the increasing
importance of environmental concerns.  The effects of agricultural
production  on groundwater  or on food quality and  safety must now
be considered  by producers,  processors  and public officials.  Indeed,
the traditional approach  to agriculture  policy making may  be inade-
quate  if the nation  is to face  successfully  the challenges  of interde-
pendence  and  international  competition.  This is an  exciting time as
farmers and others involved in the agriculture sector,  citizens  and
elected officials together, grapple with the need to develop a realistic
and appropriate agriculture policy for the future.
The challenges  and  complexity  have  a  couple  of implications  for
joint public  policy education  efforts.  First,  we  know  that citizens
need to be involved  in this debate about agriculture  policy;  it  affects
them  in many  and vital  ways.  Second,  citizens need  help in gather-
ing information  and understanding  issues.  This is  a role that you  in
this room play;  the League and other  organizations  have a role in
this as well. It would seem that there is a natural basis here for coop-
eration and  partnership.  To be  sure,  Leagues  will be  working  on a
variety of other national,  state and local issues of their choosing.  But
agriculture policy has the appeal of being cross-cutting.  It ties in with
their  interests  in the  environment,  in international  trade,  in  sound
fiscal policy, in the prevention of poverty. The very complexity of ag-
riculture policy makes it a natural for a multi-issue organization.
In  policy education,  Leagues  are accustomed  to reaching  citizens
in their  communities,  using a  variety  of methods-discussions,
forums,  debates,  field trips, demonstration projects,  interacting with
other  organizations  and  the  like.  Over  the next  few  years,  the
League  of Women  Voters  Education  Fund expects  to be  providing
leagues  with  information,  materials  and training  on agriculture  pol-
icy issues to assist them in increasing citizen awareness  about this
important  area.
The  LWVEF  also  will be  cooperating  with Public  Voice  for Food
and Health Policy in a joint project,  focusing on one broad issue area
85each year for three years.  In the first year we will focus on the issue
of pesticide  residues in food and water and explore problems and
options.  The  second year  will bring a focus  on the structure  of agri-
culture-consequences  for  consumers  and  rural  communities.  The
third  year  will center  on what could  be  done to  achieve  a  safer,
healthier food supply.  Each year's activities  will include policy  semi-
nars,  regional  training  workshops  for  citizen leaders,  publications,
networking and outreach  to other organizations and model citizen
education  projects through the League of Women Voters network.
We know that we will be in touch with many of you as the League
continues  its focus  on agriculture  policy.  We  will look to  you for ad-
vice and expertise.  We hope you  will let us know of particular  inter-
ests that you  have in policy education that fit with the focus that I
have  highlighted  for you.  We want to work with you as we continue
to emphasize  agriculture policy.
Just as war is too important to be left to the generals,  agriculture  is
too important to be left to the experts  alone.  Agriculture affects all of
us  and the League  of Women  Voters Education  Fund believes  that
policy  education  in this  complicated  and fascinating  area  can  equip
citizens to be participants in, rather than bystanders of,  the policy
process.
86

EDUCATION ON PUBLIC POLICY IN AGRICULTURE THROUGH THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

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Research Papers in Economics