Disciplining the State: The role of alliances in contesting multi-level agri-environmental governance

This study evaluates the development of a national agri-environment scheme under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on “commonage” or collectively owned land in the Republic of Ireland. In doing so, it explores the role of alliance building in reasserting marginalised narratives in multi-level agri-environmental governance processes. To this end, process tracing analysis is carried out on government policy documents and reports; interdepartmental exchanges; parliamentary testimonies; and media reports relating to the policy development process. This allows, firstly, for the tracing of the historical emergence of collectively owned land as a differentiated agricultural space. Secondly, it explores how a specific governing device – Commonage Management Plans (CMPs) – emerges in national debates as means of regulating these spaces. Finally, it provides insight on how alliances comprised of commonage farmers, farm extension professionals, and politicians at national and international levels successfully challenged aspects of the proposed CMPs. This illustrates how marginalised, but capable actors may navigate multi-level governance structures to influence state institutions and policy outcomes. We thus make two main contributions. First, we foreground the role of alliances to provide an illustration of how marginalised actors may gain influence in multi-level governance processes. We demonstrate how these alliances are built around specific shared narratives and operate with cognisance of the power dynamics in which they operate. Second, we highlight how both consultation and contestation contribute to co-producing policy design outcomes. However, the case study indicates that more extensive participative policy making could address such contestation more effectively.