| Abstract: | The seminal work of Derthick and Quirk (1985 ) argues that public policy changes when the intellectual debate of ideas establishes that policy options are legitimate and current policies are ineffective. 1 Overlooked in their otherwise exceptional analysis is the role that country music plays in the politics of ideas. 2 The thesis of this article is that country music is a crucial part of the politics of ideas, and, in fact, many policy debates are resolved in country music well before the intellectual community of policy analysts reaches a consensus. This article will recap some of the key policy debates in which country music set the agenda, 3 established the key policy alternatives, or resolved the policy debate and permitted the adoption of public policy ( Anderson, 1994 ). 4 |
