Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions V. 15

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15 Governance: An Int'l J. Pol'y, Admin, & Institutions 1 (2002)

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Policy Networks, Federal Arrangements, and the
Development of Environmental Regulations: A
Comparison of the Canadian and American
Agricultural Sectors

ERIC MONTPETIT*

Both studies offederations and studies of policy networks have sought to
produce explanations for observed patterns of policy divergence and
designs. However, both have evolved in parallel, insights rarely transfer-
ringfrom one to the other. This article reconciles the two types of studies.
More specifically, it provides an understanding of the divergent efforts of
the United States and Canada with regard to the adoption of environmental
regulationsfor the agricultural sector, which emphasizes the establishment
of policy networks through interactions between past policy decisions and
federal arrangements. The American federal structure, when combined
with unrelated agricultural policy decisions, shaped policy networks in
such a way as to enable the adoption of stringent environmental regulations
for agriculture. In contrast, the Canadian federal structure, also in con-
junction with past policy decisions, prevented the creation of policy net-
works capable enough to design similarly stringent agro-environmental
regulations.

For most of the 20th century, agricultural policy-making in OECD coun-
tries was guided by a protected development paradigm whereby state
intervention to transform the sector from yeomanry to a modern industry
was mostly left free from any international constraint (Coleman 1998). By
encouraging the retirement of inefficient farmers, these policies contrib-
uted to the sharp decline in the number of farms, their consolidation into
much larger holdings, and their concentration in areas where compara-
tive advantages were higher. This trend, Grace Skogstad (1998) argues,
undermines the exceptionalism of the agricultural sector (see also
Coleman 1999). Agriculture is increasingly becoming just like any other
business.
If agriculture is becoming just like any other business, policy-makers
may be tempted to align the policies for the agricultural sector with those
of other sectors. For example, trade-distorting policies in agriculture are
not as tolerated as they were in the past (Skogstad 1996). Similarly, the

*Ecole nationale d'adrninistration publique
Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, Vol. 15, No. 1,
January 2002 (pp. 1-20). @ 2002 Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148, USA,
and 108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JF, UK. ISSN 0952-1895