A Ladder of Citizen Participation
Abstract
The heated controversy over “citizen participation,” “citizen control,” and “maximum feasible involvement of the poor,” has been waged largely in terms of exacerbated rhetoric and misleading euphemisms. To encourage a more enlightened dialogue, a typology of citizen participation is offered using examples from three federal social programs: urban renewal, anti-poverty, and Model Cities. The typology, which is designed to be provocative, is arranged in a ladder pattern with each rung corresponding to the extent of citizens’ power in determining the plan and/or program.
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Participating in a process is one thing, but having the power to influence the outcome is another.
“Second, concerning the effective use of participatory planning, Sherry R. Arnstein reminded us that participating in a process is one thing, but having the power to influence the outcome is another.”
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- Authors
- Arnstein, S. R.
- Corresponding author
- Arnstein, Sherry R.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Planning Association
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-01-02
- Volume
- 85
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 24-34
- ISSN
- 0194-4363 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-0130
- OpenAlex
- W4229999961
- Cited by
- 796
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 68 · 2025: 93 · 2024: 75 · 2023: 97 · 2022: 110 · 2021: 78 · 2020: 53 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 195.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the American Planning Association (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban Planning and Governance
- Social Sciences › Public Administration › Public Policy and Administration Research
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Local Governance and Planning
- Keywords
- citizen participation, citizen control, typology of participation, urban regeneration, anti-poverty policy, Model Cities program, federal social programs, poor people, citizen power
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