Abstract
When it comes to deliberative democracy in plural societies, the scholarly work of O’Flynn, most prominently, highlights promises and pitfalls of deliberative practices. He argues that, from a normative basis, bargaining between groups should be replaced by deliberation in order to render any divided society more sustainable, and to generate an overarching civic identity. The workshop discusses the institutionalization and practices of deliberative democracy in South Tyrol and Catalonia, two constituent units in need of reconciliation, even if to a different extent. South Tyrol is a consociational democracy that institutionalizes three language groups, while in Catalonia the very concept of democracy has recently been challenged with mass protests for and against the revision of its status quo. The workshop primarily focuses on practices at the local level, and their (potential) relevance for the overall society, if scaled-up.