ABSTRACT
The development plans of many, perhaps even most, developing countries, tend to treat rural societies as neutral structures which are affected by, but do not influence, government rural development (RD) strategy. The political economy of rural reality can and very often does have severe constraining effects on any RD efforts, both at local and at national levels. Structural constraints on RD efforts are reinforced in the rural areas by the nature of the relationships or linkages between the national and local levels. Each of the resource, organization, policy, and structural constraints is also related, at a broader level, to the overarching social system within which it operates. On the administrative and organizational-behavior side, the acknowledgment of systemic constraints helps to clarify organizational limits and suggest boundaries beyond which reform within the same social system may not be possible.
