Influence and legitimacy in public policy: investigating the Canadian agricultural subsystem

With converging social and ecological crises, Canada’s agriculture public policy system is no longer fit for purpose. Yet, little has changed in the underlying norms and policies that governs at the federal level. Imperative to understanding why this misalignment occurs is a study of relations between state and non-state actors. This research article asks: Who does the government of Canada engage with, and seek support from, when making agricultural policy at the federal level? The results show that the government has a tightly arranged network of non-state actors that it relies on, many of whom are connected to a group of powerful corporate actors. Rather than being a passive member of this coalition, the government actively funds these networks to sway public opinion and curate narratives supportive of industrial agriculture. When compared to results from the study of multistakeholder initiatives at the global scale, the overlap of influential actors is striking, making the efforts of corporate actors a multi-scalar campaign to reinforce the current industrial agriculture model. In addition to analysing the presence of a dominant coalition within the federal agricultural sub-system, this article makes a methodological contribution to the field of public policy, in particular when utilizing the advocacy coalition framework. Through the development and analysis of a news release database, the article introduces a form of relational content analysis that highlights forms of power, influence, and connection within government decision making processes.