This paper examines the role of the Saudi bureaucracy in development by focussing on local administration. It points to several shortcomings of the Saudi local administrative system, including diverse organizational structures, low educations qualifications of local public officials, imbalance between the executive authority and the assigned responsibilities of local agencies, a high degree of duplication, and lack of co-ordination of services. All of these constitute serious obstacles to the Saudi local administration playing an effective role in promoting socio-economic and political development. Despite these shortcomings, however, the Saudi local administrative system has been active in the dynamic development of the Saudi Kingdom. This active role has been strengthened by national development plans which emphasize the development of the Kingdom's geographic regions through the establishment of regional development centres.