Reflections on Rhetoric, Deliberative Democracy, Civil Society, and Trust

The current discussion of deliberative democracy has largely omitted serious consideration of its rhetorical dimensions. We argue that such an omission keeps the discussion from focusing on how democracy actually works and from encouraging a culture of civic engagement that might make it work even better. We consider four problems in the current discussion, and suggest how a rhetorical understanding of deliberation might address them. We argue that the grassroots resources of civil society are the major cultural resource for deliberative democracy to thrive provided we nurture its rhetorical inflections. We further argue that such inflections may help us address the central problem a deliberative democracy must meet if it is to flourish under conditions of political pluralism: the problem of trust. We conclude by arguing that the rhetorical practices within and among civil society's public spheres are the relevant source for the social capital of trust on which deliberative democracy depends.