Exploring preferences among citizens and politicians for agriculture and agricultural policy

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Despite the considerable level of government intervention towards the agricultural sector in developed countries, little scientific-based knowledge exists about poeple's preferences for agriculture and agricultural policies. The few examples in the academ ic literature indicate that there may be significant differences between the observed policies and policy outcomes on the one hand and people's preferences on the other hand. The main objective is to exploit people's preferences regarding agriculture an d agricultural policy in Norway. We will investigate whether citizens' preferences deviate from the observed policy outcome as well as from those of politicians. We will further study the significance of regional differences within Norway. Our approach is broadened by conducting a similar study for Switzerland, allowing for comparative analysis. Approaching this objective constitutes a complex, but quite novel task in the academic profession. One of the most critical R&D challenges will be to develop re liable tools that elicit preferences on an issue that needs to be stated simply enough to be properly understood by respondents, but comprehensive enough to appropriately reflect the many complexities and conflicting aspects of agriculture and agricultura l policies. Therefore, we propose a variety of different methods including surveys, focus group discussion and the study of policy processes. We also suggest novel methods like online discussion fora to test new forms of value-articulating arenas. The project is of great relevance to society as it seeks to provide useful knowledge about the legitimacy and support for agrcultural policies in Norway. Such information is crucial for policy makers, government officials and other stakeholders to target agri cultural policy instruments in order to achieve greater coherence with people's preferences. In addition, the project will address a variety of methodological and empirical issues to the wider academic audience.