Economic Development and Biotechnology: Public Policy Response to the Farm Crisis in Iowa 1 Brian J. Reichel Paul Lasley William F. Woodman and Mack C. Shelley, H Brian J. Reichel is a Ph.D candidate at Iowa State University and a graduate fellow in the National Agricultural Biotechnology Council. In addition, he is a law student at Drake University. Paul Lasley is Associate Professor of Sociology at Iowa State University. His research focuses on the linkages between changes in agricultural and rural development. He is the principal investigator of the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll - a longitudinal survey of Iowa farm operators. William F. Woodman is Professor of Sociology at Iowa State Univesity. His research on biotechnology impact assessment focuses on university-industry relationships and societal consequences of these arrangements for research. Mack C. Shelly, II is Associate Professor of Political Science and Statistics at Iowa State University. He teaches and conducts research in public policy, statistical methods and political institutions. ABSTRACT In periods of social crisis, policymakers become particularly vulnerable to interest groups mobilizing to compete for scarce funds. At this point, legislators are no longer able to address the specific needs of their primary constituency directly, but rather are forced to do so in pretext only. New, unfamiliar technologies provide ample ammun- ition for astute interest groups to take advantage of times of economic turmoil and maneuver for policy support through dramatic campaigns of "salesmanship." By publicizing a crisis situation, dramatizing it effectively, and advertising an innovation as the solution to the crisis, legislators may be effectively persuaded to give priority to interest group pressures above and beyond those of the local constituency. Iowa's attempts to address the farm crisis through economic develop- ment strategies relying on biotechnology is examined in this paper. The results of extensive surveys of Iowa's legislators and farmers are examined and the consequences for Iowa's policy process of using biotechnology under the auspices of economic development are discussed. Introduction For the founding fathers of this country, mech- anisms of accountability would prevent govern- mental representatives from acquiring interests distinct from those of their constituents (e.g., Federalist No. 10). Ideally, the separation of pow- ers would ensure that if representatives became too self-interested, or if a particular group ac- quired too much power over one set of representa- tives, there would be safeguards to prevent either representatives or private groups from obtaining authority over government in general. However, what the proponents of representative democracy failed to foresee was the dramatic impact that pri- vate and public interest group politics would have on influencing public policy. In times of severe economic crisis and capital scarcity, the ideal of representative government often gives way to the pressure of political interest groups. Often this means that legislative responses to an economic 15