Analysis of Socio-Economic Barriers to Villagers\' Participation in Rural Management Process Case Study: Lishter Rural Agglomeration in Gachsaran County (in Persian)

Nowadays, participation is identified as a part of the critical elements contributing to the achievement of development and rural development. Governments implement various programs to increase the participation of villagers. Yet, the basic problem is that the level of villagers’ participation in rural management process is low in Iranian rural areas. The ineffectiveness of the planning system in the country in macro and micro levels aggravates the problem. The question raised in this context is, “What are the biggest socio-economic obstacles which prevent the villagers from participating in rural management process?” This study tries to answer this question. The research used descriptive-analytical methods while the data collection was conducted through documentary method and field study, in short, interviews and questionnaires. The analysis of the data was done both in descriptive method (mean, standard deviation) and inferential method (Single-sample t test, Chi, linear regression and Tukey test). The statistical population is composed of 1582 rural households in 20 villages of Lishter Rural Agglomeration which enjoyed both Islamic and rural councils. A number of 143 samples were selected through Cochran formula. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was employed to test the reliability of the questionnaire with an emphasis on internal consistency. The reliability coefficients for the public and for the people in charge were respectively 0.764 and 0.781. The results indicated that the level of participation of villagers in rural management process was not in a good condition. Meanwhile, the findings illustrated that there was a significant relationship between the individual characteristics of villagers as well as the level of rural development from one side, and the rural participation, from the other. Moreover, both the rural people and authorities view low income as a major obstacle to the participation of villagers in rural management process.