This paper explores the underdeveloped capacity for public deliberation in conventional participatory spaces. We begin by surveying deliberative research and point to a neglect of mainstream bodies like legislative committees, local government meetings, and workplace committees. Too much focus has been on “mini-publics” like citizens’ juries, which tend to be disconnected from conventional spaces, thus reducing their influence on decision makers and general public debate. To build bridges between participatory and deliberative democratic theory, as well as across the existing deliberative system, we argue for more innovation in existing sites of citizen engagement. We discuss practical prospects, drawing on our case studies of deliberative innovations in conventional spaces. We ask: What motivations drive innovations? What resources sustain them over time? What adjustments must be made to theoretical assumptions to harmonize with institutional constraints? By addressing questions like these, we are better able to theorize a real-world place for democratic deliberation.
