Program Management of Rural Development as a Tool to Facilitate Regional Political Stability
The article provides results of an efficiency analysis of rural development management programs, identifies factors useful in creating comprehensive and systematic approaches to challenges of sustainable rural development. The analysis shows that the main factor of low efficiency of program management activities here is meager funding or corresponding programs, including those aimed to support agri-production. The fundamental reason is limited federal budget capacity. Other adverse factors include an imbalance in the funding of proclaimed goals, progressive annual retrenchment, and single-sided program arrangements to deal with economic challenges (creation of economic growth points). The blind side is lack of goals to facilitate the preservation of rural lifestyles, ethno-cultural development, moral and cultural potential of rural territories, its communication to other social strata, elaboration of local-governance practices, and development of civil society institutions. The mentioned factors blunt the effectiveness of rural development program management activities which may ultimately result in an aggravated socio-political situation in the village and accelerate rural population outflows.