The institutional construction of a policy field: a discursive institutional perspective on change within the common agricultural policy

Abstract:

This paper explores the dynamics giving momentum to the institutional construction of a policy field. This objective is pursued through the study of a case: the articulation and institutionalization of a policy field concerned with organic farming within the auspices of the common agricultural policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) from 1980 to 2003. Applying a discursive institutional analytical framework focusing on the dynamics of institutional change it is concluded that - when it comes to the study of ideas - perhaps: (1) the CAP is not as sectorized a policy field as it is commonly considered to be, and (2) the European Parliament also has a role to play as an agent of change within the CAP.