ABSTRACT
In planning theory it seems that for some time certain misunderstandings have arisen because different levels of the discourse have not been clearly distinguished. Assuming that we are considering a constitutional democracy, the chapter suggests distinguishing among five different decisional levels: the pre-constitutional level, the constitutional level, the legislative level, the administrative level and the civil society level. This distinction allows clearer reconsideration of some recurrent problems. And it also suggests that a strictly instrumental view of institutions and the law (as means to achieve specific outcomes directly) is inadequate: appropriate institutions and laws instead create a multi-scalar structure fundamental in creating the conditions for plural co-possible individual actions.
