In both the United States of America and Great Britain, there have been widespread but inconsistent attempts over the past two decades to involve ordinary citizens in local land-use planning decisions. These illustrate the tension between the representative and participatory principles in local politics generally. Efforts to analyze them must distinguish between six different types of planning decisions and five categories of participation within these decision types. A survey of the literature from both nations indicates that participatory programs have a mixed record of accomplishments, according to the local political culture and structures, the attitudes of public officials and political leaders, and the aims and skills of the participants. At its best, citizen participation has provided certain benefits to local planning systems, but it has displayed such limitations that it must continue to take place within a framework of responsive and accountable representation.
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