Hart's Ladder vs Lundy Model

How two youth participation frameworks help organisations move beyond tokenism.

Hart's Ladder

Use this lens when it best clarifies the decision, behaviour or system condition you are trying to understand.

Lundy Model

Use this lens when it better fits the level of action, evidence or participation challenge in front of you.

Decision guide

Main questionHart helps ask what level of participation is happening. Lundy helps ask whether the conditions for rights-based participation are present.
Best useUse Hart for diagnosing tokenism and power-sharing. Use Lundy for designing a process with space, voice, audience and influence.
Combine themUse Hart to set the ambition, then use Lundy to design the participation conditions.
CautionDo not treat any model as a tick-box substitute for young people judging whether influence felt real.

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