Communication Theory ISSN 1050-3293 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Beyond Problem Solving: Reconceptualizing the Work of Public Deliberation as Deliberative Inquiry Martín Carcasson 1 & Leah Sprain 2 1 Department of Communication Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA 2 Department of Communication, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA his article introduces deliberative inquiry (DI), a practical theory designed to guide the work of deliberative practitioners working in their local communities to better address wicked problems by improving the quality of public discourse. DI reconceptualizes the work of public deliberation as sparking and sustaining a unique form of inquiry suited to addressing wicked problems. DI moves from a linear event-focused model where delibera- tion produces reined public opinion and decision outcomes to using deliberative principles to guide a cyclical learning process. DI seeks to improve community decision making by focusing on obstacles to deliberative engagement, deliberative tensions inherent to wicked problems, and resources for collaborative action. Understanding of these elements is reined throughout the 4 tasks of the deliberative cycle. Keywords: Deliberation, Inquiry, Collaboration, Wicked Problems, Deliberative Practitioner. doi:10.1111/comt.12055 Many of the problems plaguing local communities are wicked problems (Rittel & Webber, 1973)—problems that are “ill-formulated, involve uncertainty and con- fusing information, have many decision-makers and afected parties with diferent and conlicting values, and promise ramiications for the whole system” (Ferkany & Whyte, 2012, p. 3). Such problems pose particular governance and communication challenges. Most importantly for our purposes, the systemic and paradoxical nature of wicked problems means they cannot be solved in the sense that a solution can be identiied and implemented that results in the problem being settled for any signif- icant time frame. Rather than attempting to solve wicked problems, communities need better processes for discovering, understanding, and managing the tensions and paradoxes inherent within systemic, value-laden problems. As Charles Handy (1995) argues: Corresponding author: Martín Carcasson; e-mail: mcarcas@colostate.edu Communication Theory (2015) © 2015 International Communication Association 1