}This article reports findings from a national survey of county administrators, executives, and commission chairs from counties with an executive or an administrator that indicate counties are battling to meet rising administrative and policy demands with inadequate authority. An examination of 23 different policy areas revealed that modern counties confront some of our society's most vexing problems, most of which are primarily of an urban character. A multivariate analysis indicated that population changes associated with increased urbanization influenced respondent attitudes concerning some policy issues. Also, the South was identified as the region where county government is under the greatest stress. It is suggested that researchers should approach the use of county demographic data with caution.
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