The Persistence of Small Farms in the United States: Implications and Perspectives

The discussion in previous pages has revealed the importance of the role that the State plays in advanced Western societies today. More importantly, it is evident that an analysis of the relationship between social actors and the socio-economic structure in mature capitalism cannot be fully explored without addressing this issue. Historically, the State’s role has become more apparent through its continuous and growing intervention in spheres that traditionally were outside its competence, a trend largely due to its adoption of Keynesian political economic strategies. In the case of the United States such strategies have been a constant since the period of the Great Depression and the era of the New Deal.