Der feine Unterschied. Die schiefe kommunikative Ebene zwischen Bauernverband und staatlicher Landwirtschaftsverwaltung in Bayern

Since their founding towards the end of the 19th century the organized agricultural movements in Bavaria have been struggling for commonly shared means of communication with the governmental administration of agriculture. This struggle for a commonly shared means of communication was comprised of the academic socialization as well as the civil servant’s demeanor (Habitus), whose position was aspired by the associations’ officials. This was of concern for the Bavarian Farmers’ Association (Bayerischer Bauernverband) founded in 1945, too. The academic socialization of the farmers’ association’s officials was the same as the governmental agriculture officials’. But they were denied the legal position of official civil servants. The ministry of agriculture as part of the government was definitely interested in a commonly shared means of communication as a tool to control the Bavarian Farmers’ Association. The ministry however was not interested in giving away the competence to transfer governmental duties, meaning the farmers’ association’s officials were denied the rank of a civil servant. That’s why the farmers‘ association’s officials remained pseudo-civil servants while the Bavarian Farmers‘ Association in turn was put under the government’s supervision within the Bavarian agriculture improvement act (Bayerisches Landwirtschaftsförderungsgesetz). This was also done in order to further strengthen the position of monopoly for the Bavarian Farmers’ Association. The result was not a commonly shared means of communication, but a sloping level of communication with the Bavarian Farmer’s Association at its end. This example of a disproportional relationship between the Bavarian Farmers‘ Association and the ministry of agriculture shows institutional interests of agricultural associations have to be added to the studies of agricultural politics, especially the civil servants at the mininistry of agriculture.