Democracy is declining, but citizen engagement solves.

We currently exist in highly polarized and fragmented institutions and public culture. The lack of robust norms surrounding an ongoing, structured public conversation regarding significant local/national issues perpetuate and amplify attitudes of charged differences, discontinuity, poor leadership, and mistrust. These trends will continue to impact people, state economies, labor forces, and university communities in adverse ways without building a more dialogic and normative public culture. Adversarial, com-petitive, and interest-based decision-making is the perceived norm if not the actual prac-tice among different stakeholder groups and institutional powerbrokers. Beginning and sustaining communication-led citizen engagement initiatives can potentially have tremendous outcomes and benefits. In Doing Democracy, London (2010) asserts that democracy needs more than just visible institutions and public governance bodies. It depends on its “ecosystem, which© 2021 National Communication AssociationCONTACTJoshua J. Fryejoshua.frye@humboldt.eduDepartment of Communication, Humboldt State University,Telonicher House 103, Arcata, CA 95521COMMUNICATION EDUCATION2021, VOL. 70, NO. 4, 437–440https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2021.1958240is made up of civic alliances, social norms, and deliberative practices that have an organic rather than an institutional quality. In this ecosystem, what citizens produce by working with other citizens is crucial”(London,2010, p. 6). Deliberative democracy, or “govern-ance through talk”(Carcasson et al.,2010, p. 1), and communication scholars have recently joined forces. In 2015, the National Communication Association’s Legislative Assembly approved a new Public Dialogue and Deliberation Division. The rhetorical tra-dition within the communication field has the birthright of addressing issues relating to communication processes and public judgments when facing social reality’s uncertainties(Farrell,1993; Zarefsky,1986). Small group communication (Gastil,1992; Gastil et al.,2008) and interpersonal communication (Anderson & Cissna,2008; Baxter,1988; Mon-tgomery & Baxter,1998) have also developed useful knowledge that contributes to effective dialogue and discussion. Communication research and pedagogy at this nexus now has a broad yet focused platform for advancing theory and practice aimed at capa-citating individuals and communities to deliberate effectively. Yet, opportunities for communication students to gain organic experiential education with discourse arts for democratic leadership are less developed within higher education communication programs. Even with the productive knowledge emanating from various subdisciplines within the field regarding effective communication for engaged citizenry, most knowledge is taught in traditional academic courses and benefits individuals rather than entire communities. Engagement with these communication knowledge and skillsets in the actual presence of the community and more diverse stakeholders remains elusive (Carcasson et al.,2010). Much remains to be done in terms of communication departments’ faculty and students combining forces to use their study and practice of communication for an integrated movement of education, research, and service with public stakeholders.