This paper discusses the political conflicts that may arise around person-centered planning for individuals with disabilities. It argues that person-centered planning offers a forum for dealing with contested questions in the lives of particular people and in the histories of particular organizations, communities, and states. These questions concern: (1) what social roles and opportunities for economic and civic participation will be open to people with disabilities; (2) how will the work of adapting to assisting people with disabilities be divided among family members, community associations, public services and amenities, actors in the marketplace, and specialized disability services; and (3) how existing investments and practices should be regarded when they become inconsistent with changing appreciation of the rights of people with disabilities and rapidly evolving technologies for assistance. The excuses agencies use to prevent person-centered planning efforts are also discussed. The paper concludes that people who are working for real change will find themselves in the midst of political conflict and that their civic action will produce the single most reliable indicator that person-centered planning is really happening in a service system. (CR)