The Ladder of Citizen Participation

Many technology organizations use impressive-sounding terms like “co-production” and “co-design,” yet frequently miss their fundamental purpose: transferring power to the communities being served. Design methodology alone doesn’t create change; redistribution of power does.

Arnstein’s Ladder: A Framework

Sherry Arnstein’s 1969 “Ladder of Citizen Participation” remains relevant today. The framework categorizes engagement levels from lowest to highest:

Nonparticipation

Manipulation involves placing community members on advisory boards “for the express purpose of ‘educating’ them or engineering their support.”

Therapy redirects focus from real issues. For example, framing low user signups as a UX problem needing design workshops, when the actual issue is that people don’t want the service.

Tokenism

Informing provides one-way information flow without ensuring accessibility or understanding. Open data initiatives often assume that publishing information in nice formats will create change independently.

Consultation gathers community input but offers “no assurance that citizen concerns and ideas will be taken into account.” This causes substantial consultation fatigue when communities see their input ignored.

Placation places hand-picked community members on boards but restricts meaningful decision-making power.

Citizen Participation

True participation requires genuine power-sharing:

• Partnership: Power is “redistributed through negotiation between citizens and powerholders”
• Delegated Power: Citizens achieve “dominant decision-making authority”
• Citizen Control: Communities govern programs with full policy and managerial authority

Real-World Example: Manchester Age Friendly Neighbourhoods

This project allocated 44% of funding (£324,000) directly to community partnerships to decide spending. Residents received training in participatory budgeting and community development theory, participating in all research stages. Community conversations revealed perception of “nothing to do in my area,” which led to PlaceCal—a genuinely co-produced, community-led project.

Key Insight

Genuine co-production shifts emphasis from “developing solutions” to “creating a creative partnership around a shared purpose.” Technology becomes one tool among many, not the centerpiece.