Word Networks in US Rural Policy Discourse

作者：Reimer Adam^*; Han Yicheol; Goetz Stephan; Loveridge Scott; Albrecht Don

来源：Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 2016, 38(2): 215-238.

DOI：10.1093/aepp/ppv051

• agriculture
• community development
• content analysis
• network analysis
• policy discourse
• interest group

Rural areas in the United States face lagging economic performance, shrinking populations, and waning political influence. We analyze key words used by advocacy organizations to understand how they advance their interests and seek to influence federal rural policy discourse. We identify several clusters of discourse, including clusters centered on agriculture, environment, tax policies, and rural issues broadly. Our results indicate that agricultural issues and terms dominate rural issue dialogues beyond just farm policy. Most importantly, rural development, environmental, and food issues are framed primarily through an agricultural lens, potentially reducing the influence of nonagricultural issues in the larger rural policy discourse.

• 出版日期2016-6