The Drama of Democracy: Contention and Disput in Community Planning

Agar Adamson is the author of Letters of Agar Adamson, 1914–19 and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

Community planning is a difficult concept for many citizens to grasp;
thus a work of this nature has the potential to be a useful tool through
which the citizenry can increase their knowledge and understanding of
the process. This, however, is an academic work, which somewhat limits
its scope.

In The Drama of Democracy, environmental planner Jill Grant argues that
planners are overly concerned with the socioeconomic aspects of planning
at the expense of the cultural implications, and she attempts to correct
this imbalance. Unfortunately, many of the references and concepts she
uses are American rather than Canadian, an approach that hinders the
usefulness of the work and may mislead some readers (who may confuse,
for example, the rise of the Progressives in Manitoba with the U.S.
Progressive movement). Furthermore, her conclusion that a final decision
must rest with the elected politician will disappoint many citizen
activists, and is a point that deserves greater discussion.

Despite its shortcomings, this work will add an important dimension to
the planning process, for as Grant’s two case studies illustrate,
cultural analysis must be given parity with socioeconomic concerns by
both planners and politicians. Planners—who are, after all, public
servants—must respect the principles of democracy, and citizens must
be given meaningful access to the planning process.