Introduction
Rural municipalities as local institutions are the link between the government and public institutions and the executive arm of Islamic councils in the modern rural management system. The most important functions of this institution are to provide many public and welfare services and facilities, strengthen the process of social and cultural development, control the process of migration from villages to cities, preserve the infrastructure facilities built in rural areas, and strengthen the process of rural and agricultural development. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the success rate of rural municipalities in the Mahidasht district and the factors affecting it.
Materials and Methods
The overall approach of the present study was qualitative-quantitative and in terms of purpose, it was in the field of applied research. In the qualitative part, using in-depth interviews and focus groups, success indicators were determined and used in the quantitative phase. In the quantitative phase, the survey method and three types of researcher-made questionnaires used. The statistical population of the present study was the rural municipals, members of the Islamic Council, and villagers of Mahidasht district. To determine the sample size of the villagers, the Morgan table used, and 335 people questioned. Given the limited statistical population among the rural municipals and members of the Islamic council, the total count method used.
Results and Discussion
The results of the qualitative phase led to the identification of success indicators, which included the participatory-administrative, environmental-physical, health, and economic-social and These results used in the quantitative phase. The results of the quantitative research showed that the rural municipals had the most activity in the participatory-administrative index and the least activity in the socio-economic index. Environmental-physical and health indicators placed in the second and third stages of the rural municipals activities respectively. Based on factor analysis, the economic infrastructure factor had the highest contribution (15.576), and the law-based-independence factor had the lowest contribution (4.774) in explaining the variance related to factors affecting the success of rural municipalities. Seven factors–economic-infrastructure, educational, structural-management, supportive, motivational, participatory-coordination, and law-based-independence–were identified as the most important factors affecting the success of rural municipalities.
Conclusions
This research, based on a holistic paradigm, examined the success of rural municipalities and the factors affecting it. The indicators that were agreed upon by the stakeholders and those involved in the rural municipalities were used as the basis for action. Therefore, internal and external evaluations were considered together, which has not been addressed in previous research. The novelty of this research is the multidimensional study of rural municipalities’ performance, which includes the views of various actors in rural municipalities’ affairs on the indicators and criteria for rural municipals success. Therefore, this study has considered both the indicators considered by the rural municipals and the local reality and rural municipalities facilities. The results of the research showed that there are problems in implementing the demands and decisions of the rural municipalities. Therefore, it suggested that a law for the independence of the rural municipalities be approved in the Islamic Consultative Assembly to show the rural municipalities as an official and popular institution with clear, specific, and enforceable duties and a defined scope of power and containing specific boundaries.