Political Definitions of Rurality and Their Impact on Federal Grant Distribution: the Case for the Farmers Home Administration

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Abstract
Rural residents of the United States, comprising about a fourth of the population, account for a disproportionately large share of the nation's poor and are more likely to live in substandard housing, lack utilities and have poor health facilities. Federal and state rural community development programs have attempted to address these inequities, but their success requires that program funds actually reach target audiences within rural areas. In some cases, program definitions of rurality are sufficiently broad as to allow funds to be distributed to urban areas as well, thereby reducing the potential of rural development programs. Looking at the distribution of Farmers Home Administration funds in Kentucky during fiscal year 1980, data suggest that the more urban nonmetropolitan counties (nonmetro adjacent counties) receive higher per capita funds than do the more isolated rural counties and that these funds do not seem to be directed toward the poor. These findings hold even when controlling for county needs and structure. The analysis suggests ways in which practitioners can improve a community's ability to participate in these programs.

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