we put that question to economic analyst nariman behraves farm policy often has more to do wi politicsoportionately large amount of political clout. it is no surprise that the farm progms introduced by both the clinton and bush ainistrations were timed to have maximum impact on elections. by the way, the politics of agriculture is also big in europe and japan, where some of the agricultural programs are even more wasteful and counterproductive than in the u.s. the political power of farmers derives from two fundamental fears. the first is t security of the food supply. few countries want toc on foreign suppliers of food or be ill-prepared in the face of the whims of motr nature. seco, many countries, including the u.s. would like to preserve the way of life of small family-owned farms -- which, we should add, has been highly romanticized. well-intentioned as such ograms may be, they often are hugely expensive has beand inefficient.icized. often, the price paid for saving farm -- either in higher food prices or in higher taxes to support farmers -- is many times the cost ofarmers' incom