A ladder of citizen participation

A paper that provides a model of the different levels of citizen participation and involvement in planning processes in the United States.

Written by Sherry Arnstein in 1969, the model shows the level of citizen participation from high (citizen control) to low (manipulation). Arnstein defines citizen participation as "a categorical term for citizen power. It is the redistribution of power that enables the have-not citizens, presently excluded from the political and economic processes, to be deliberately included in the future."

Source: Journal of the American Institute of Planners
Author information and contact: Duncan Lithgow

Year of online publication: 2007