Die Bauern, ihre Verbände und der Staat. Eine Untersuchung zum Verhältnis von Partizipation und Administration / Farmers, their associations and the state. An investigation into the relationship between participation and administration

Farmers’ associations are among the supposedly most influential interest groups in German history. In fact, however, they are part of a corporatist arrangement that severely restricts their freedom of movement and in which the state ministerial administration is the strongest actor.

In Bavaria, this constellation is particularly pronounced due to the independence of a centralised state administration based on the French model. Against this background, a sharp contrast has developed in the Bavarian agricultural association system since the 19th century between honorary farmers and full-time association officials who are socially oriented towards the state bureaucracy. This led to the Bavarian Farmers’ Association, founded in 1945, being essentially under state supervision. To understand this, it is necessary to trace the history of the agricultural association system back to the early 19th century.