In this investigation of planning and policy-making procedures for rural areas, the authors seek to alter our view of the rural planning process by taking account of recent developments in social science theory. Skillfully mixing theory with an empirical case study of Gloucestershire, and supplemented by international perspectives on the role of the state and the operation of the policy process in rural areas, this volume interprets planning as a political activity of the state, and illustrates the constraints imposed by the state on what is practical at the local level.