Assessing the Relationship between the Performance of Rural Municipalities and the Realization of Good Rural Governance (Case Study of the Central Part of Zanjan City)

Abstract

Purpose: Rural Government is considered as a way to extend democracy, empowering villagers to choose their way of life and organize their living space, increase prosperity, make opportunities, and promote teamwork, and it can be concluded that in new rural government theories, rural municipalities are the new paradigm and one of the main pillars of rural management and development. By the end of September 2009, there were 898 villages with more than 20 households and 194 authorized rural municipalities in Zanjan province, Iran and the number of rural municipalities compared to villages with more than twenty households was about %21.6. This study aimes to investigate the rural municipality performance in the rural government of Zanjan province. Methods: Our research method is of documentary-field type and the study population consists of 194 rural municipalities from which 114 rural municipalities were selected as the sample using stratified sampling with proper allocation. SPSS was used to analyze the data. For stepwise regression, the variables entered the equation as factors affecting rural municipality performance in rural government by which 89% of Zanjan rural municipality performance variance was clarified. Results: The results show that the performance of rural municipalities in the selected area can play a critical role in villagers’ participation in rural management and development. Conclusion: Based on the results, the variables with a significant effect on rural government are the cooperation of rural council, villagers’ participation, rural equipment and facilities, and rural municipality consultation with local leaders and council members.