Effective leadership is critical for communities as they work to maintain their vitality and sustainability for years to come. The purpose of the study reported here was to assess confidence levels and community engagement of community leadership program participants in North Dakota State University Extension programs. Through a survey…

Posits that increased communication of community leaders involving relatively short communications paths should lead to program success. However, measures of connectivity and average distance in the communications structure reveal no significant relationships. Suggests other factors which may be more important to rural community development…

Analysis of 1979 questionnaire responses of 80 female and 442 male leaders from eight rural Alabama counties modestly supports the hypothesis that a community leader's gender affects perspectives on different social and economic aspects of rural industrialization. (NEC)

Public officials in small towns who participate infrequently in the bond market need information about bond financing. This publication, one in a series of booklets published by the Western Rural Development Center using research gathered between 1967-77, discusses factors influencing the marketability and cost of bond financing for towns and…

A survey of 135 small towns in Nebraska found that half had undertaken economic development projects; development activity and success were related to community size (with the smallest communities lacking both local resources and outside support); and most community leaders perceived their development efforts as unproductive. (SV)

Public officials in all towns and cities--especially those in smaller communities that participate less frequently in the bond market-- need information to assist them in answering questions concerning bond financing. One in a series developed by the Western Rural Development Center, this booklet introduces three general approaches to financing…

In these changing times, rural communities must be able to solve unforeseen problems, adapt to economic and social changes, and sustain their efforts into the future. Their capacity to do so is dependent on the human capital among civic leaders. This paper examines human capital among civic leaders in Herring Bay, Maine, a rural, coastal…

Contrasts historical cases in Western countries concerning the idea that ordinary rural primary school teachers can play an important role as "animateurs"--leaders in rural development activities. Reveals no historical evidence to support the idea that teachers can stimulate rural development. (AH)

To determine degree of local support for industrialization as a means of rural economic development, leaders and influentials in three South Carolina counties were interviewed in 1977. Each was asked to define "development" and to list and rank three aspects of his county he especially liked and its most important needs or problems.…

In order to identify some basic types of information concerning industrial development which might be useful to decision-makers at the local level, an opinion survey was conducted in five bordering nonmetropolitan Pennsylvania counties. A 13-item questionnaire was mailed to 222 local organizations, categorized by response rate as follows: (1)…

Communities with a flexible, open leadership structure may weather energy booms better than communities with old-guard leadership cliques, according to a study of community governance in two small Texas towns. Although similar in location, ethnic composition, population, access to transportation, economic base, and importance in the county,…

To examine ratings of satisfaction with selected community services in relation to spending preferences and to ascertain policy-relevant implications of citizen evaluations in planning and delivering rural services), a study focused on perceptions of community leaders and household respondents in eight rural Alabama counties. Research literature…

Presenting a methodological statement for a study of quality of life variability in rural development, this paper is based upon a dimension of expansive/nonexpansive ideology of community leaders. The three hypotheses to be tested state that among communities: the greater the social organization for development among nonexpansive leaders, the…

Using factor analysis (both principal factor solutions and rotated factor solutions) to search for underlying statistical commonality among 12 indicators of community satisfaction in 6 Colorado communities, the research explores various dimensions of community satisfaction that may be important across different communities. The communities under…

A case study exploring the relationship between local leadership and the school-community partnership was conducted in a small, isolated Australian mining town. Data were generated from written materials such as the local newspaper and interviews with 8 school staff members and 11 community members involved with the schools or representing…