Becoming Just: The Role of Power in Ensuring the Democratic Ends of Participatory Policymaking Processes

An essential aspect of middle grades reforms is the pursuit of just educational policies. Whether and how such policies are maintained in schools often depend on how participatory policymaking processes—school based management or shared decisionmaking bodies—enable more equal sharing of power. Participatory processes, however, sometimes undercut efforts to develop just policies and the type of democratic relations it requires. In this study, I explore participatory policymaking processes in three schools and assess these processes using two different views of power. I argue that equal power sharing requires significant shifts in roles and relationships among participants both within and outside the participatory policymaking process.