Quantum mechanics

Control (management)

Linguistics

Philosophy

Biology

Public relations

Rhetoric

Archaeology

Economics

Power (physics)

Botany

Typology

Anthropology

Business

Physics

Management

Geography

Political science

Sociology

Citizen science

Poverty

Public administration

Plan (archaeology)

Journal of the American Planning Association

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.

A Ladder of Citizen Participation