Planning for Freedom

Freedom can be planned. It is the result of a designing triad consisting of the planning agents' assumptions, the planning system's conditions and the opportunities and/or barriers which enhance or hinder the exercise of freedom. The “assumptions-conditions-opportunities” triad is examined to show that different combinations of the designing components result in different types of freedom. Four planning models, all claiming to be “democratic,” are examined. It is shown that each system offers its own “brand” of freedom or freedoms. Therefore, comparisons of the amounts or kinds of freedom(s) among systems remain unresolved. Each system can justify the freedom afforded in terms of the consonance existing between the agents' assumptions and the values and beliefs of those it serves.