Twenty-Nine Thirty-Seconds or Fight : Goal Conflict and Reinforcement in U.S. Cotton Policy, 1933-1946

During the years between the beginning of the Depression in 1930 and postwar demobilization in 1945-47, the federal government initiated some 2 dozen programs affecting cotton agriculture. Designed and implemented by a bewildering variety of agencies, commissions, and boards, these programs frequently worked at cross-purposes, and just as frequently contributed unintentionally to each other's success. Often their impact on cotton farming was unexpected as policy synergies either produced self canceling results or exaggerated outcomes in either a positive or a negative direction. Because no agency was responsible for unified coordination, individual program evaluations could not fully reflect the conflict or reinforcement of goals and objectives across all the agencies regulating cotton agriculture