Rural Development Policy: Breaking the Cargo Cult Mentality

Abstract

A comprehensive national rural development policy has been thwarted by at least five factors: inaccurate rural stereotypes, perceived conflicts between urban and rural interests, competition among rural development advocacy groups, declining rural population, and fragmentation of rural development within Congress. Rather than formulate a coherent strategic policy for rural development, the last several presidential administrations have substituted rhetoric and procedural changes for real action. They have cut programs and slashed technical-assistance efforts in the name of efficiency and used terms like coordination, targeting, and improved access to make existing programs more responsive. Despite the clear focus of federal policy makers on urban and international issues, rural development advocates behave like cargo cults, religious sects that wait for material goods to be brought by magic by the spirits of their ancestors in cargo ships. This article offers some relatively modest suggestions for how rural development advocacy groups might actually better serve rural people.