ABSTRACT
Change in Al-Karak has resulted in a number of cleavages in the socio-political system, for example: the increasing distance between the socio-economic strata, the differences between the educated and uneducated, the distinction between modern and traditional outlooks or approaches to life, and the growing division between rulers and ruled. Both consciously and unconsciously, attempts from numerous directions are being made to temper these divisions, creating the beginnings of a new political integration. The educated middle stratum has drawn away from the mass of the population in terms of education, and approach to life; its members express disapproval of the traditional political system, wishing either to reform it or radically to alter it through a social revolution. The government is fostering numerous development programmes; co-operatives, education, the provision of welfare and credit, which are specifically designed to close the social and economic gaps. Numerous mechanisms are being used in order to close the gaps and to create a transformed political integration.
