In the past, housing problems have been considered largely in terms of quantitative factors. Increasingly they are seen as resulting from the underlying philosophy of public provision. For many, owner-occupation is the ultimate in the housing "ladder", however there are around 8 million local authority tenants in Britain who, for one reason or another, remain in the public sector. These tenants have, for long, been subjected to insensitive and authoritarian housing management. Many wait weeks and months for "the council" to do essential repairs. In addition they are often regulated by one sided tenancy agreements which imply that, left to their own devices, tenants are irresponsible, anti-social people. This dissertation is written with the belief that tenants should be given opportunities to significantly control aspects of their environment. Through personal involvement in a local housing association, it is interesting to examine consumer participation in a setting which lies outwith the more conventional public housing sector. The breakdown of the dissertation is as follows: Chapter 1: provides a general introduction to the concept of tenant participation. Chapter 2: considers the theoretical background to the debate on Democracy and Participation. It draws upon works of the "classical" and more contemporary theorists. Its objective is to provide a general context within which to examine the later case study material.