American policy should press constantly the view that until these governments demand efficiency and effectiveness of their bureaucracies there is not the slightest hope that they will either modernize of democratize their societies. We should spread the view that planning and national development are serious matters which call for effort as well as enthusiasm. Above all, we should seek to encourage the leaders of these societies to accept the unpleasant fact that they are responsible for their fates. Only within the framework of a mature relationship characterized by honest appraisals of performance can we provide telling assistance. With respect to those countries whose leaders prefer to live with their illusions, we can afford to wait, for in time their comparative lack of progress will become clear for all to see.

Our technical assistance to these countries should place special emphasis on inducing the central governments to assume the role of advisor and guide which at an earlier stage foreign experts assumed in dealing with the central governments. We should encourage the governments to develop their own technical assistance to communities, state and provincial governments, rural communities, and other smaller groups, making certain that no important segment of the economy is neglected. Simultaneously we should be underlining the interrelationships of technical progress in various fields, showing how agricultural training can be introduced into education, how health affects labor productivity, how small business can benefit the rural farm community, and, above all, how progress in each field relates to national progress. Efforts such as the Community Development Program in the Philippines have demonstrated that transitional societies can work toward balanced national development. To achieve this goal of balanced development, communications between the central government and the local communities must be such that the needs and aspirations of the people themselves are effectively taken into account. If modernization programs are imposed from above, without the understanding and cooperation of the people, they will encounter grave difficulties.