In the current literature, it is often asserted that the town planning system which emerged in mid-twentieth-century Britain was remarkably and regrettably undemocratic. This chapter scrutinises some of the basic historical components of pervasive view, and shows that they are far too simplistic. Town planners in Britain had always meditated on the question of public participation, even if their solutions were sometimes vague or actually ambiguous. Yet, while elements of the intellectual and political climate inhibited the articulation and development of a broadly participatory town planning process during the interwar years, town planning thought undoubtedly retained an interest in the potential social value of community-oriented planning. Significantly, even today, the relationship between planners and planned often remains fraught, and this despite several large-scale inquiries on consultation and participation, as well as the expenditure of much money on planning propaganda and education.