‘Incoherence Is, in a Way, a Choice’: The Production of Policy Coherence at the Intersection of Uruguay's Agricultural, Environmental and Water Policies

Abstract

This study explores the production of coherence between Uruguay's agricultural, environmental and water policies amidst growing tensions, which are particularly manifested in conflicts between an expanding agricultural sector and water insecurity for the broader public. We apply a novel mixed-method approach, combining a political discourse analysis of key sectoral policies, the ruling party's programme and workshop discussions with a survey of implementing technical staff, thus capturing both the discursive nature of coherence and perceptions of its practical implementation—extending thereby beyond instrumental and even existing critical policy coherence analysis frameworks. Our findings reveal divergent views on policy coherence, with agricultural sector staff generally viewing it more positively than their counterparts in the environmental and water sectors. We also identified two distinct discourses: the hegemonic discourse, which promotes agricultural growth with minimal environmental safeguards, and the counter-hegemonic discourse, which advocates for a cultural shift that challenges the capitalist structures underpinning large-scale agriculture. Our study highlights how prevailing discourses shape both the perception and practice of policy coherence. However, we also found that vagueness in policy objectives and instruments allow powerful actors to maintain the status quo, making policy objectives appear coherent while diverging from the discursive ideals of ‘strong sustainability’ in practice. The gap between discursive ideals and real-world outcomes illustrates that coherence, to a degree, is a ‘choice’ shaped and limited by power dynamics and institutional capacities. Overall, our approach and findings bear relevance for an ever-increasing number of contexts in which economic and environmental priorities intersect and compete.