In 1990, a new intergovernmental mechanism was adopted in an attempt to improve the way rural development programs and policies are developed and administered. Now known as the National Rural Development Partnership, this initiative centers around the activities of Rural Development Councils established at the State and National level. Based on case studies of 16 State Councils and their Washington, DC-based counterpart, this report examines how the Councils have evolved and what they have accomplished, individually and in partnership with one another, during their formative years.