This report identifies factors that influence a rural area's economic success or failure, and evaluates whether federal programs efficiently address rural economic problems. Data collection included a review of federal programs that provide funding to rural areas, and interviews with federal and state agency officials involved with rural…

This study describes the political environment that confronts rural advocates, and identifies the boundaries within which rural policy can be developed, promoted, and adopted with some degree of success. Congress designs and implements national policy; therefore, its composition affects advancements in rural policy. Rural residents comprise 24% of…

Problems in federal rural policy arise in a number of areas: the extreme economic adversity of rural America, failure to acknowledge the higher cost of providing rural services, failure to distinguish between rural programs and agriculture programs, and failure to address specific rural needs. Papers in this collection examine rural development…

As rural communities strive to meet the demands of both their citizens and of higher levels of government for increased local services, they must rely more and more on outside assistance. The maze and complexity of federal and state mandates forces officials to seek technical assistance from a network of public and private agencies. The dynamics…

The executive summary of the first meeting of the National Advisory Council on Rural Development gives highlights of remarks and presentations by 16 speakers and discussions by subgroups on supporting state and local government (management and rural development roles), on new ways for rural development, and on financing rural development. Purposes…