The authors consider the applicability of the IAP2 Core Values and Participation
Spectrum in the context of a developing country which historically has lacked a ‘culture
of participation’: South Africa They illustrate both the strengths and limitations of the
IAP2 principles and guidelines through examination of the government-mandated
programme called Integrated Development Planning (IDP). The authors argue that the
IAP2 Core Values and Spectrum rest on assumptions about a society’s socioeconomic and
political conditions that do not obtain in contemporary South Africa. Experience with IDP
reveals a compelling need for context-specific theoretical and strategic rationales that will
induce policy-makers and planners to reconsider whether they support participation in
anything more than name only. If they do not, IDP will fail to empower the public, with
adverse consequences for democracy in South Africa.