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Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Thomas Gordon Johnson
Content may be subject to copyright.
THE
CHANGING
NATURE
OF
RURAL
COMMUNITIES
Thomas
G.
Johnson
and
James
K.
Scott
University
of
Missouri
Introduction
Prior
to
the decade
of
the
Seventies,
when
rural
communities
in the
United
States
entered
the
period
known
as
the
"population
turn-around," their
role
in
the
larger economy
was
somewhat
clearer than
it
has
been
at
anytime
since. In
general,
urban
areas
produced products
in
the
early stages
of
the
product
cycle,
while rural
areas
generated
raw
materials, food
and
energy,
and
in some
regions,
provided
low
cost
labor
for the
production
of
products
in
the
mature
stage
of
the
product
cycle.
Private
services
were
generally
located
near
the
basic economic activities
(production
and
consumption) which
generated
their
demand.
The
economic
fortunes
of
individual rural
communities,
though
not
particularly
good, were
closer
to
that
of
the
average
community than they
have
been
since.
Until
the
Eighties,
it
was
relatively meaningful
to
speak
of
rural
conditions
and
the
rural
problem. Each
year,
resource-based industries
produced
more
but
employed
fewer laborers.
But,
at
least
communities
could
count
on
the
linkages
between
these
sectors
and
their
financial,
trade and
service
sectors.
Most
rural communities
also
had
a
predictable
and
stable
relationship with their manufacturing
sector.
But,
even
during
this
period,
the
global economic structure
was
beginning
to
change.
During
the
population turnaround,
a
fundamental transformation
occurred
in
the sectoral structure
of
rural
areas.
As
rural
America emerged
from
the
Seventies,
the
short-lived population turnaround
seemed
to
be over,
but
the
basic economic
rules were
different
than
when
they
began.
Some
communities
used
the
experiences
and
resources gained during
the
Seventies
to free
themselves
from
the
downward
economic
spiral.
These
communities
are
now
immersed
in
a
transformation
from
traditional
rural
communities
to
modem
ex-urban communities
with
rising demand
for
land,
changing demands
for
public
services,
and new types
of
stresses and conflicts.
Other communities
fell
back
into
decline.
The
deregulation,
the
dismantling
of
community
safety
net programs,
the
globalization
of
economic
relationships,
and
changes
in the
nature
of
the
product
cycle
were too
powerful
for these
communities
to
overcome.
For
them,
the
downward
spiral
of
the
pre-Seventies
era
returned
in
the
Eighties.
177
Evidence
from
the
current
decade suggests that, overall,
the Eighties
may
have been
the
anomalous
period,
rather
than
the
Seventies.
Growth
has
returned
to
the average rural community.
Yet,
the
dichotomous
experience
of
the
rural
communities
in
the
Eighties remains.
Despite
the
fact
that growth
is
occurring
in
rural
communities
in
every
region
of
the country,
one-quarter
of
all
rural communities continue
to
decline,
and
three-quarters
of
all
non-metro
growth occurred
in
just
one-third
of
non-metro
counties
(USDA-ERS). Just
as
the
personal income distribution
in this
country
has
spread
since the late
1970s
(more
rich
and
more poor),
so
has
the
disparity
of
economic fortunes among
communities.
The economic
development
issues
of
today
are
dichotomous,
with
a
clear distinction between
the
issues
facing
the
growing
and
declining
communities.
The
following
map,
reproduced
from
Rural
Conditions
and
Trends,
shows
the
dispersed
nature
of
rural
growth
(Figure
1).
Notice
that
almost
all
the
declining
counties
are
in
the Plains
region
from North
Dakota
to
Texas.
Figure
1. Nonmetro
Population
Change,
1990-95.
J
* '
Ep |
Above
average
growth
(5.6%
or
more)
,
Modest
growth
(less than
5.6%)
Decline
I
Metro
counties
Note:
National
average
growth
for
this
period
was
5.6 percent.
Source:
Bower,
Doug
and
Peggy
Cook,
eds.
Rural
Conditions
and
Trends:
Socioeconomic
Conditions
Issue.
Vol.
7,
No.
3.
Washington
DC:
USDA/ERS, February 1997.
This
paper
deals
with
the
economic
changes
that have
led
to
the
dichotomization
of
economic fortunes
in
rural
communities.
The
observations
and
conclusions
are
based
not
only
on
the
authors' experience with
and
research in rural communities
in
the
United
States,
but
also
on
our
experience
with
the
European
Union;
especially
178
Northern
Ireland
and
the
Republic
of
Ireland. While
the
precise
nature
of
change
varies from
place
to
place,
we
believe
the
following trends
are
true for
many rural
areas in
the world.
We
address ten
major
forces
that
are
shaping
rural
communities
in
three
broad
categories: the
changing
economy, changing
demographics
and
changing governance.
The
Changing
Economy
One
cannot
understand
the changes
occurring
in
rural
America
without
understanding
the
changes,
mostly
global,
occurring
in
the
broader
economy. Several
forces
have
combined
and
are
leading
to
significant
changes
in
rural
life
throughout
the
world.
These
forces
include changing
technology,
globalization
and
localization.
Technological
change.
Technological change
is
so
ubiquitous
that
it
heads
most
lists
of
change.
From
the
perspective
of
rural
communities, technological
change
effects more
than
just
the
way
in
which
products
and
services
are
produced.
Technological change
has
and
will
change the
very economic bases
of
rural
areas,
their relationship with
the
rest
of
the national and
global
economies
and
their internal
social
structure.
In
production,
the
most significant
economic forces
are
the
rising
importance
of
information, communication, robotics,
artificial
intelligence,
genetic
engineering,
and
other embodiments
of
technology.
In
addition
to
the
direct
effects
of
these
changes
on
employment,
they
have
led
to
increased
use
of
services
(particularly,
information-related
services), and
reduced
use
of
goods (particularly,
raw
materials)
in
the
production processes
of
other
manufacturers.
The
productivity
of
labor
in
most goods-producing industries
has
risen
dramatically (approximately
fourfold,
or
300
percent,
in
the
last
half
40
years).
The
productivity
of
labor
in
services,
on the
other
hand,
has
increased
considerably
less
(about
25
percent)
(Pulver). These increases have
been accomplished
by
combining
increasingly
greater
amounts
of
capital
with
each
unit
of
labor. Since the
demands
for
many
goods
have
risen only
slightly,
the
growth
of
employment
in
these industries
has
been
meager,
if
positive
at
all.
Some
of
this
new
capital
has
been introduced
to
take
advantage
of
the
emerging
technologies discussed
above,
while other capital
has
been substituted
for high cost
labor.
It
is
important
to
note
that
as
this
trend
progresses,
the
cost
of
labor becomes
less and less
important
in
location
and
investment
decisions
because
it
makes
up
a
declining
portion
of
total
costs. This
process, then,
can
have
positive
effects
on
income,
job
security,
etc.,
even
while
it
reduces employment.
As
a
consequence
of
technological
change,
goods
production
and
employment
have
become decoupled.
Production
has
increased
while
employment
has
decreased.
Intersectoral
linkages
have
replaced
intrasectoral
linkages.
In
addition,
the
product
179
cycle has
been
broken,
at
least
from
the
perspective
of
domestic
rural
economies.
Rural
areas
are
losing
some
of
their comparative
advantage
in
goods-producing
industries that
use
labor
extensively (Bluestone).
Technological
change
also effects
the
relationship
that people
share
with
each
other,
with
their
communities
and
with their
governments.
People
are
more
mobile,
more
flexible
in
their
choices
of
employment
and
residence,
and
have
greater
access
to
information.
Technology, then,
facilitates
and, indeed,
foments
the
other
forces
identified-globalization,
localization
and
the
various aspects
of
changing
governance.
The
linkage
between productive
activity
and
distribution
of
income
has changed.
The
substitution
of
capital
for
labor
affects
the
functional
distribution
of
income
by
shifting returns
from
the
owners
of
labor
to the
owners
of
physical capital
and
human
capital.
In
the case
of
agriculture,
this has
resulted
in
larger
farms,
shrinking
farm
population
and
declining
labor
income.
However,
these changes
are
not
nearly
as
dramatic
as
those occurring
in
some
mining,
forestry
and
manufacturing-dependent
communities.
Unlike agriculture,
where
the
owners
of
the
physical
capital
are
much
like
the
owners
of
the
labor
that
they
are
displacing,
the
owners
of
physical
capital
in
mining,
forestry and
related manufacturing
industries
are
very
different
from
the
displaced
labor. In
addition,
the
so-called "Wal-marting
of
Rural
America,"
in
which independent,
locally-owned retail
businesses
and service
establishments
are
replaced
by
large
chain
stores,
is
changing
the
ownership
of
physical
capital
as
well.
These new
owners
of
rural physical capital
are
frequently
very affluent,
and
usually not
residents
of
the
community
in
which
their
investments
are
made. They
tend
to
spend
their
income outside
the
community
and this
leads
to
lower
employment
and income
multipliers
in
the
community
(Bernat).
The
income
tends
to be
distributed
more
unevenly
(Bernat)
and
be
more variable
in
these
communities
(Kraybill,
Johnson
and
Deaton;
Johnson,
Kraybill
and
Deaton). These
factors
combined
lead
to
a
number
of
conditions
(health, education
and
housing) associated
with lower quality
of
life
(Kraybill,
Johnson
and
Deaton).
Globalization.
The
"globalization"
of
the
economy
is
so
frequently cited
as
an
important
economic
force
that
it
has
become
a
cliche.
Increased trade
and
global
competition
among
firms
is
usually
the
assumed consequence
of
this
globalization.
Of
greater significance
to
communities,
however,
is
the
movement
of
information,
technology,
capital
and
people.
In
addition
to
the
competition
in
markets
for
goods
and
services,
then,
is
the
heightened
competition
among
communities around
the
world
for
jobs,
residents
and
finances.
Globalization
has left
many communities unsure
of
their
best strategies. Public
investment
in
human
capital
often
increases
the
mobility
of
a
community's
labor
force.
In
declining communities,
this
undoubtedly
reduces
the
incentive
to
invest
in
180
people.
Industrialization-incentive
programs
are
very
risky
and,
when successful,
attract
employers that
can
as
easily
be
lured
away again
by
another community
with
another
attractive
incentive
offer.
Localization.
Localization
is
the
growing
role
of
local
conditions and
local
choices
in
determining
the
prosperity
of
a
community.
The
reasons
for
the
growing
primacy
of
local
circumstances
include
technological
change,
changing
social
and
political
attitudes,
and,
ironically, the
globalization that
has
opened competition
with
the
world.
Reich,
in
The
Work
of
Nations,
describes
how
global
competition
means
that
we,
as
a
nation,
are
no
longer
in the same
boat.
The
prosperity
of
our community
depends
on
if
we
are
competing with
the
rest
of
the
world
as
routine producers,
or
if
we
have
based
our
economy
on
efforts
of
symbolic analysts. Rural
communities,
then,
depend
on
how well
their employment
base
fares.
There
is
a
growing freedom
of
all
industry,
but most
strikingly
of
services,
to
behave
like
footloose industries.
The declining
role
of
goods,
especially raw materials,
in
production,
and
the use
of
information technology
has
provided both traditionally
factor-oriented
and
market-oriented
industries
with
a
wider
array
of
potential locations.
Many factor-oriented
manufacturing
industries
choose
to
transport their
raw
materials
to
areas
where
they
are
closer
to
their markets, where amenities
are
higher,
or
where
factors
other than
raw
products
are
lower
cost.
On
the
other
hand,
the
growing
role
of
information
exchanges,
communication
technology, and computers
allow
many
services
and otherwise
market-oriented
industries
to
locate
at
a
distance
from their
markets.
Newspapers
need
no
longer
be local.
National
newspapers
can
exploit
economies
of
size
without compromising
quality.
Satellite
and
fiber
optics
technologies
allow instantaneous
audio,
video and
information transmissions
over
long
distances.
This allows
financial, insurance,
real estate,
educational,
business
management, accounting,
legal,
and many other
services
to
centralize some
functions
and
decentralize
others
but,
in
general,
frees
them from
locating
strictly according to
the
location
of
their
clients. Indeed,
many
of
these services
can
be,
and
are
being,
provided
in
international markets
just
as
goods
have always been.
Retailing will
become
increasingly footloose
as
consumer
acceptance
of
mail
order
and
computer
shopping
rises.
New
service
industries, yet
unimagined,
will
undoubtedly
arise to
take
advantage
of
the
new technologies.
Overall,
we observe
an
emerging economy
in
which
the
definitions
of
economic
base,
services, public
and
private
enterprise, competition,
and even
sectors
themselves
have
become blurred.
We
see
an
economy
in
which trusted
linkages
linkages
between production
growth
and
employment
growth,
and
between
base
and
non-base industries,
and
between activity
and place
have
been
severed.
We
see
an
economy
in
which
linkages
have
become
more
numerous,
but
more
decentralized,
and
where distance
becomes
a
resource
rather
than
a
cost
or
constraint.
181
Changing
Demographics
Migration
to
Rural
Communities.
As
pointed
out
in the
introduction,
many
rural communities, especially
those
in
the
West
and
East,
are
experiencing significant
inflows
of
new residents.
This
in-migration
consists
primarily
of
older
adults
who
are,
or
who
expect
to
be,
retired,
and
of
telecommuters
or
business people
no
longer
tied
to
particular
locations.
This
trend obviously
brings
new
investment
and
income
to
selected
communities.
It
can
also
lead
to
rapid increases
in
prices
for
housing
and
other
real
property.
In
addition,
this
kind
of
in-migration puts
significant
new
demands
on
private
and
public
services, and
can
lead
to
economic
and social
conflict between
the
"come-heres"
and
the
"from-heres."
Aging
of the
Population.
As
the
baby boom
generation
begins
to
turn
50
and
as
life
expectancy
continues
to
rise, the
overall
population
of
the
United
States
is
becoming
older.
The elderly,
especially
the baby
boomers, tend
to be
quite
mobile
and,
as
we have
seen,
are
increasingly choosing
non-metropolitan communities
as
their destination.
Since the
poorer
elderly
may
not
migrate
as
readily
as
the
wealthier,
declining communities may
experience
rising
poverty
and
increased
demands
for
social services.
Growing
rural
communities
will
face
increased demands
for other
public
services
and
amenities.
As
residents
in
rural
communities
age,
more
people will receive direct
and
indirect
income
from
federal
transfer
payments.
In some
communities, over
40
percent
of
total
personal
income comes from
Social Security,
Supplemental Security
Income,
Medicare
and
Medicaid payments.
As
aging
continues,
and
as
debates
about
growth
in
federal
entitlements
intensify,
the issue
of
transfer
payments
in
many rural
communities
will become
increasingly
important.
Settlement
Patterns.
Changing settlement patterns
also
affect
the
nature
of
rural
community
life.
Increasingly,
people
are
interested
in
fleeing
the
congestion,
crime
and high
cost
of
urban
life
for
the quieter,
safer and more affordable
surroundings
of
the
rural
and
metropolitan
fringe areas.
The
availability
of
highway
infrastructure
makes this
possible. Furthermore,
travel
in
the
United
States
is
inexpensive.
Transportation
systems
are
in
place
and
employment
is
increasingly
located
in
the
suburbs.
These
conditions,
along
with
the
increased
participation
of
women
in
the
labor
force,
contribute
to
increased
commuting
in
rural
communities.
In
many
areas
of
the country,
rural
jurisdictions
lack the
planning
resources
and
the
physical
infrastructure
to
respond
to
this
kind
of
"ex-urban"
growth.
This
growth then
exacerbates
existing
fiscal
constraints
for
local
governments
and,
in
some cases,
contributes
to
problems with water
quality,
air
quality
and other
key
natural
resources.
182
Commuting
can affect the entire social
organization
of
a
community.
Prior
to
the
1970s,
rural people
tended
to
live and
work
in
the same
place.
Now, more
people
are
spending
less
time
in
their
communities
of
residence.
These
people
now
have
less
time
to
contribute
to
the social,
cultural, economic
and
political
life in
their
hometowns.
Changing
Governance
Devolution
has
become
a
commonly used
term
to
describe
the
changing
relationship between
central and
local
governments.
In
September
1997,
the Scots
and Welsh
supported
the
idea
of
regional
parliaments-a
concept referred
to
as
devolution
by
the
British
Government.
In
the
United
States,
devolution
refers
to
the
process
of
shifting
policy responsibility
from
the
federal
government
to
state
and
local
governments.
Changing
governance
is
a
larger
trend
than
just
devolution,
however.
It
includes
a
fundamental
rethinking
of
how
policy
decisions
are
made
and
how public
services
are
delivered.
Our
system
of
governance
is
changing
partially
in
response
to
changing
societal
values
and
partially
as
a
consequence
of
technological
change.
One
aspect
of
changing
governance
is
the
growing
reliance
on
performance-based
measures.
Another
is
the
trend toward
privatization.
Most fundamentally, governance
is
becoming
more
inclusive
and
broad-based.
Devolution.
Throughout
the
world, communities
are
faced
with
the
prospect
of
making
more
decisions
of
greater importance
than
ever before.
For
rural
communities, this
is
often
a
tall
order
given
their
small staffs
and
resources,
and
their
limited
experience
with many
of
the
new
areas
of
responsibility.
Each
area
of
responsibility
creates
its
own
problems.
In
the area
of
economic
development,
communities,
often
neighboring communities,
find
themselves
pitted
against
each
in
the
competition
for
migrating
employers.
In
health
care
and
welfare
reform,
communities
are
faced
with new mandates
and
numerous
alternatives
for
satisfying
them.
Privatization.
Privatization
is
the
public sector
equivalent
of
outsourcing,
which
has
characterized
the
changing
structure
of
the
private sector
for
the
last
decade or
more.
Outsourcing
refers
to the
practice
of
going
outside
the
firm
for
services
that
have
traditionally
been
provided
internally.
A
firm
may shed
its
accounting,
legal,
or
maintenance departments
and
contract
with
an
independent
firm for
the
services.
Similarly,
governments
are
experimenting
with
privately-operated
prisons,
private
owners
of
toll
roads, and
even
private
providers
of
"workfare"
and
economic
development
programs.
Privatization
affects
our
perception
of
the
government
as
well
as
its
operation.
Privatization
makes
government
seem smaller, and the
economy appear
more
private
183
sector
oriented
than
it
really
is.
It also
makes
the
economy appear
more
diversified
than
in
the
past.
A
critical
question,
yet
unanswered,
is
what
services-in
what
locations-can
be
effectively
privatized?
Will
privatization
be an
advantage
or
a
disadvantage
to
sparsely-populated
rural
areas?
Privatization
of
government
functions
can
be
a
more
efficient way
of
operating
if
it
encourages innovation
and
allows
smaller governments
to
capture some
of
the
benefits
of
size
economies.
The
preconditions
for
effective
privatization
vary
from
case
to
case,
but
some
generalizations
are
possible. First,
there
should
be
a
potential
for
economies
of
size
in
the
privatized
activities.
This
allows
a
private
firm
to
provide
inputs
cheaper
than
a
single
government
could
itself.
It also
encourages
the
private
firms
to
grow
by
offering
its
good or
service
to
several
governments
or
to
both
public
and
private
customers.
Second,
appropriate
infrastructure
must
be
present
to
facilitate
management
over larger
areas.
This
typically
includes
communications
and
air
transportation
infrastructure.
Third,
privatization
may require
more formal
and
sophisticated
financing
and
insurance because
of
the
more
limited
financial
responsibility
of
the
private
firm
compared
to local
governments.
Finally,
privatization
works best
if
there
are
significant opportunities
for
innovative practices. Private
firms
may
have
more
incentive
to
be
more
innovative than governments,
and
innovation
leads
to
improved
services and
lower
costs.
Performance-Based
Government.
Performance-based government
is
designed
to
target
limited public resources
for
maximum
impact,
to
provide
incentives
for
government
units
to
improve
the
delivery
of
public
services
and
to
hold
government
more accountable
to
specific
measurable
objectives. This
trend
is
seen
in
a
variety
of
policy
contexts.
Attempts
by
the
Clinton
administration
to
"reinvent"
government,
and efforts
to
implement
the
recent Government Performance Review Act
are
visible
examples
at
the
federal
level.
At
the
community
level,
states
such
as
Oregon
(Oregon
Benchmarks)
and
Minnesota
have
initiated
the
use
of
key
performance
indicators
and
specific short-
and
long-term quantitative targets
for
each
of
these measures,
identified
through
a
grass-roots
process.
Performance
measured
against
these
targets
will,
in
part,
determine
local
government
assistance
from
state
funds.
Missouri, along
with
other
states, plans
to
develop
a
community-based
response
to
welfare reform.
In
this
context,
communities
will be
asked
to
devise
local
strategies
to
achieve
specific,
targeted
objectives.
The
state will
then
provide
financial
assistance
and the
regulatory flexibility
to
implement that
strategy,
provided
the
community
achieves
its
stated
objectives.
Communities that
do
not meet
these
objectives
will
have
fewer resources
and/or
more
restrictions
on
how
state
funds
are
invested.
184
The
trend toward
holding
communities
accountable
for effective
delivery
of
public
services
is
a
global
one.
For
example,
the
European
Union
recently
announced
an
integrated
strategy
for
investing European
structural funds
in
regional economic
development.
In the
current program,
EU
distributes
funds
to
member
states,
based
on
a
set
of
formulae.
Member
states
then
have the
responsibility
to
distribute these
funds
at
the local level. In the
new
strategy-Agenda
2000-the
EU
will
target
selected
sub-national regions
for
greater investment, and
will
award
these
funds
directly
to
communities,
based
on
how
these
communities
perform
against
key
criteria.
This
trend
places
even
more importance
on
the
capacity
of
rural
communities
to
manage
information
and
develop strategies
to
interact
with
that
information
in
ways
that
help
them
achieve
measurable improvements
in
the delivery
of
public
services.
Decentralization
of
Decision
Making.
The
most
fundamental aspect
of
changing governance
is
the
tendency toward
greater
decentralization
in the
decision
making
process
itself.
Throughout
the
world,
community
residents
are
demanding
more direct
influence
over
the
decisions
affecting
their
communities. Information
technology
and
communication
infrastructure
tend
to
support this
decentralization
process
by
reducing
the
transactions
costs
involved
in
becoming
informed.
They
also
facilitate
the
process
of
achieving agreement by reducing
the
transaction
costs
involved
in
communication.
Thus
far,
U.S.
policies with
regard
to
information
and
communication
infrastructure
in
rural
communities
have
focused
on
the
"supply"
side.
That
is,
a
key
objective
is
to
assure
some
minimal
level
of
access
to
telecommunications
infrastructure
to
residents
of
all
places-great
and
small.
Addressing "demand"
side
issues
is
of
equal or
greater importance.
In this
case,
demand
is
the
capacity
and
desire
to
use
information
technologies.
The
European Union
now funds
a
broad
range
of
projects designed
to
enhance
demand
and
build
the
capacity
of
local
residents
and
community
leaders
to
use
information technologies
to
make
better
decisions
in
the
private, public
and
voluntary
sectors.
The
program,
called the
Information
Society
(IS),
provides funding
for
training
in
computer
literacy
and application,
as
well
as
the
development
of
computer-based community decision
support
systems.
The
capacity
of
individuals
to
participate
in
the
Information
Society
is
determined
by
the
quality
of
information
and
telecommunication
infrastructure,
as
one
would
expect.
However, other
factors include
widespread
education
and
training
in
the
use
of
information,
effective
promotion
of
IS,
technical support
for the
diffusion
of
IS
activities,
and
public awareness (European Union).
185
Conclusions
Given
the
significant
economic,
demographic
and
governance
changes
occurring
in
rural
communities-in
the
United
States
and in
many other
parts
of
the
world-the
following
program
responses
are
particularly
important.
Policy
Research.
The
trends
discussed
here
are
new,
they
have
global
significance,
and
they
are
not well
understood.
As
stated
above,
these changes
will
afford
opportunities
for
some
rural
communities
to
survive
and
thrive.
Some
communities
will
face
formidable
challenges.
Western social science
developed
largely out
of
a
need
to
make
sense
of
the
transition
to
the
industrial
age.
The
trends
discussed
here
demonstrate
how
the
transition
from
an
industrial-
to
an
information-based
society
is
experienced
in
rural
communities.
Community
residents
must
appreciate
their
stake
in
such
policy
debates
as
those
related
to
medicare,
managed
care,
telecommunications
and
welfare reform. Policy makers
in
state
capitols
and
in
Washington,
D.C.,
must
understand
how
their
choices will
affect the
quality
of
life in
different places.
Researchers
must
develop
the
theory,
methods
and empirical
results needed
to
conduct these
kinds
of
policy
impact assessments.
Just
as
the
classic social
theorists confronted
the
challenges
of
the
late-Nineteenth
Century,
rural
social
scientists must
systematically
examine
the
contemporary
changes
occurring
at
the
community
level.
Technical
assistance.
The
demand
is
already
great for
understanding
the
"community consequences"
of
policy
alternatives
or
of
particular
economic
development
strategies.
In
the future, this
demand will
only
increase.
Land
grant
scientists
can
play
a
key
role
in
improving
and extending
the
capacity
of
local
groups
to
understand
their
options
and
make
more
informed
decisions.
Toward
this
end, we
have
proposed
the
development
of
a
national
network
of
scientists
involved
in
community
level
economic
and
fiscal
impact assessment,
and
in
community
decision
support (Johnson
and
Scott).
As
community
leaders and
residents
accept
more
responsibility
and
authority
for
determining their
own future,
they
need
a
toolbox
of
practical, quantitative decision
tools,
as
well
as
the
training
and
support
needed
to
apply
these tools.
Reform
of
local
government statutes.
In
most
U.S. states,
the
authority
and
responsibilities
given by
law
to
local
governments
are
out
of
date
and offer
little
flexibility.
Currently,
many
small rural
government
units
are
experiencing
fiscal crises,
and
must
focus
limited
resources
on
preserving
the
most
basic
of
public
services,
such
as
roads
and
water treatment. All
aspects
of
local
revenues and
expenditures
should
be
re-evaluated-taxing
authority, school financing,
land use
controls,
regulation
of
business
and industry,
and
relationships with
other
governmental
units.
Recently,
a
chief
executive for
a
local
government
district
in
Northern Ireland
described
the role
of
her
local
district
as
that
of
a
facilitator,
mediator,
partner
and champion.
In
186
the
future,
local
public
officials
in
the
United
States
will
need
the
authority,
flexibility
and
resources
to
play
these critical
roles.
Exchange
of
International
Best
Practices.
Often, rural
community
leaders
are
spread
dangerously thin,
and
feel
they
alone
face
their particular
set
of
challenges
or
opportunities.
Our
recent
experience suggests
that
the trends
described
in
this
paper
are
experienced
throughout
the
developed
world. Public
policies
that
affect
rural places
vary significantly from
the
United
States
to
Canada,
the
European Union,
New
Zealand,
Australia,
and
the
Pacific Rim.
A
true
exchange
of
best
practices
among
policy
decision-makers, community
leaders
and
social
science
researchers
will
provide
more
insight
and
support
for
communities
in
the
United
States.
Policy
Education.
In the
information
society,
people
will
demand more
access
and
participation
in
policy
decisions
at
all
levels
of
government. People
will
also
demand more
local
policy
control.
At
the same time,
both
citizens and
public
officials
seem
less
sure
about what
it
is
government
can
and should
do.
Perhaps
there
has
never
been
a
more important
time for
land grant
social
scientists
to
assist
community
residents
and
policy decision
makers
at
all
levels
of
government
in
understanding
the
impact
of
economic,
social and
policy
changes
on
particular
communities.
Extension
faculty
across the
United
States
have long
conducted
policy
education
programs.
In
our
judgment,
more
of
these
programs must
be
tailored
to
address the
particular
needs
of
local
policy
decision
makers.
They
will
also
need
to
assist
in
creating
the
vehicles
and
community
capacity
for
a
broader,
more inclusive
local
policy
decision
process.
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