'Ladder of participation' theory

Chris Heuvel

Talking to Brian Smith about the similarities between the community engagement/practice relationship that I am interested in, and his work on political engagement (now just started in the purdah period leading up to the election) / civil service policy development, he refers me to Sherry Arnstein’s ‘ladder of citizen participation’ concept’ first outlined in American Institute of Planning (AIP) Journal July 1969:

Ÿ          Ÿ citizen control            user-owned

Ÿ          delegated power       user-led                      degrees of citizen power

Ÿ          partnership                  user-partnered

Ÿ          placation                       user-involved

Ÿ          consultation                user-consulted          degrees of tokenism

Ÿ          informing                      user-informed

Ÿ          therapy                          user-placated             non-participation