ABSTRACT
Development from the top often involves the introduction of new institutions into traditionally-oriented societies. Al-Karak District of Jordan is located in the land area which abuts the southeast quadrant of the Dead Sea and stretches to the major north-south Amman-Aqaba road on the edge of the Syrian Desert. Karakis moving to Amman for jobs in the private or public sector, including the army, have provided a source of remittances for their families back in their villages and the town. The Municipality concept as employed in Jordan is essentially an alien import of a whole system. The purpose of looking at agricultural co-operatives is to provide an example of another kind of outside institution introduced into the local society. A number of trends came together in the mid-1970s to allow for this rather radical change in Al-Karak town and its municipality. The relationship and processes of a community may dominate the institution to the preclusion of the alien institution's formal rules.
