This book offers the first introduction and practical guide to increasing people's say and involvement in their lives, neighbourhood and services. It draws on a major study of initiatives to involve and empower people. It explores a wide range of schemes across a variety of policies and services, including housing, health care, education, community development, social work and social services. It also examines the underlying principles, politics and philosophy of participation. It offers guidelines for participatory policy and practice and a checklist for evaluating and auditing citizen involvement.

Peter Beresford OBE is Visiting Professor at the University of East Anglia, Emeritus Professor of Citizen Participation at the University of Essex and of Social Policy at Brunel University London, Co-Chair of Shaping Our Lives, the national disabled people's and service users' organisation and Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University. He has published widely, including The Tyranny of Ideology (2021), The Future of Social Care (with Colin Slasberg, forthcoming) and as Co-editor, The Routledge Handbook of Service User Involvement in Human Services Research and Education (2020) and the International Routledge Handbook of Mad Studies (2022).

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Making Sense of Citizen-Involvement
First Steps To Involvement: Information Gathering and Consultation From More Responsive Services to a Direct Say in Decision-making
Key Components for Effective Involvement
Guidelines for Involvement: The Agency Perspective Getting Involved with Other People: Moving from Individual to Collective Action
Guidelines for Involvement: Empowering Ourselves
Guidelines for Involvement: Developing an Empowering Practice as Workers
Towards a Policy for Citizen-Involvement
Further Reading
Index.