Colleges and universities serve two distinct but complementary purposes with respect to student development: academics educate students for individual prosperity and well-being and for public participation in democracy and civic life
University faculty can create courses that explore deliberative democracy theory and practice while also making the structure of the course deliberative and participatory for undergraduate students
The skills of public dialogue and deliberation are critical for civic engagement programs in higher education because they provide students with the knowledge necessary for addressing wicked problems in our democracy
Carrie B. Kisker, John J. Theis, Alberto R. Olivas
Deliberation is a critical approach to educating for democracy, and represents a way to redirect civic initiatives away from a focus on the problems in democracy to the problems of democracy