Cultivating Deliberative Citizenship Orientations in Communication Studies

On the backdrop of global concerns about democratic backsliding and increasing calls for academia to take upon the critical role of fostering democracy, deliberative pedagogy offers a framework for integrating deliberative processes in academic programs. This study contributes to the understanding of the role of deliberative pedagogy as a means of cultivating political orientations and behaviors deemed necessary for fostering deliberative citizenship engagement. A quasi-experiment was conducted using a sample comprised of 3 different groups of communication students who underwent the same course process during 3 separate years of implementation. Findings reveal that the experience promoted students’ deliberative faith, political interest, and political talk and affected their perceptions about the desired type of government in ways that align with deliberative governance.