Argues that state government must take a strong lead in promoting rural development. Justification for such a role includes improving the efficiency of the state's economy; making full use of fixed investments; improving rural-urban equity; preserving a rural lifestyle; and responding effectively to population density differences between rural and…

Decisions concerning large-scale energy development projects near small communities or in predominantly rural areas are usually complex, requiring cooperation of all levels of government, as well as the general public and the private sector. It is unrealistic to expect the typical small community to develop capabilities to independently evaluate a…

Elements essential to an adequate framework for rural development in the U.S. are a national growth and development policy which includes a rural development strategy and definition of common problems and programmatic actions required to deal with them. Many past federal rural development programs (lacking a federal rural policy focus) have failed…

The United States does not have a coherent national rural policy. The federal government has focused on a sector-based policy that has only indirect impact on rural America. State governments have failed to move beyond their traditional focus areas of education, corrections, Medicaid, and other state services. The diversity of rural America makes…

This issue paper, meant to stimulate discussion within the employment and training community, offers three different perspectives on improving conditions in rural areas. However, all of these perspectives share common themes: a belief in the ability of rural areas to recover economically, a commitment to ensuring that this occurs, and the use of…

Nineteen papers and a keynote address which were prepared for presentation at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota are presented. Numerous intergovernmental issues associated with the current economic crisis in rural America are analyzed and a series of innovative policy responses are identified for…

Demographic and socioeconomic changes are reshaping the fortunes of small communities and pose policy issues. Such communities find it especialy difficult to deal with rapid growth or decline, or a switch from one to the other. Small communities now enjoy greater autonomy, but at the cost of reduced federal aid. Freed from federal mandates, each…

Large-scale energy or resource development projects in rural areas cause environmental, social, and economic changes in the community. The negative aspects of these impacts can be mitigated and the positive aspects enhanced, through the use of effective impact management strategies by local and state governments (together and separately), the…

For the people of Bangladesh, mostly in rural areas, a new disaster is emerging. Two-thirds of the deep tube wells installed over the last three decades--roughly 3 million in total--contain arsenic concentrations above the permissible levels set by the WHO. These wells were installed to contribute to a secure and reliable drinking water supply,…

Participants in a symposium on economic development in rural New York State analyzed existing strengths and weaknesses of the state's rural areas and made policy suggestions relating to three broad goals: (1) ease government constraints on rural businesses in order to encourage growth and development; (2) build on and strengthen the positive…

The report of the 25-member National Advisory Council on Rural Development, appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, defines rural needs and sets forth strategies for rural development in the 1980's. A review of the decade between 1970 and 1980 discusses rapid economic growth of rural areas, social progress, and changes in public service, and…

The major participants in the formation of policy and programs for rural areas include agricultural interest groups, nonfarm groups, certain legislators, and--less directly--the media. Policy is developed in many institutional arenas: the local community and state governments, the Department of Agriculture, the White House, and the Congress and…