favored an "associational model" of order in which insurance companies
were allowed to work out rate agreements among themselves, other groups,
largely in Midwestern and Plains states rejected this "corporate" solution and
called for statist antitrust legislation and rate regulation. Between these two
extremes, over time a middle way was crafted, involving the creation of an.
independent inspector to review rates set by companies. These battles and
the final institutional settlement are shown to reflect the interaction of three
distinct modes of political activity: contests within each state were affected by
the size and power of competing interests within the state (e.g., membership
in the state Grange or State Farmers Alliance); states monitored activities in
neighboring states and "borrowed" reform ideas; and both processes were
affected by decisions during this period of the U.S. Supreme Court and. by
associational activities at the national level