From State Direction to Self Regulation: the historical development of corporatism in British agriculture

The relationship between agriculture and the state is typically presented as corporatist in character, but the detailed content of this relationship remains relatively unexplored. This paper describes the origins of corporatism in the increased state direction of agriculture which emerged during and after the First and Second World Wars. The structures created then provided the basis for a transformation of agriculture’s relations with the state, with the industry assuming greater responsibility for its own regulation. Finally the paper considers current developments which are threatening the corporatist consensus originating in the 1947 Agriculture Act.