Research on the relationship of communication to national development is at a standstill because theorists have assumed that effective communication will modernize the attitudes of individuals in underdeveloped nations and will eventually result in changing the political, social, and economic structure of their country. Unfortunately, change is unlikely to occur in backward countries since the citizens are bound by restrictive structures which are controlled by self-serving elite groups. Future research in this area should be directed at how organizations, not individuals, use communication (through mass media, pressure groups, community groups, etc.) to control the direction of change. Communications specialists must research means of altering the routine habit or organizations to only seek information which supports the status quo. (EE)