以哈贝马斯为代表的协商民主论者将民主协商的方式严格限定为“理性论证”。这一限定引发了另一些学者的质疑,认为这一限定将带来协商的“内部排斥”,削弱协商的民主主张。这些学者提出,在“理性论证”这一沟通方式外,还应将“礼节”、“修辞”和“叙事”这些沟通方式纳入民主协商中。
Deliberative democrats represented by Habermas claim that the method of democratic deliberation should be strictly limited to "rational argument". This limitation is questioned by some other theorists, who believe that it will bring "internal exclusion" to the deliberations and undermine their democratic character. They argue that different methods of communication like greeting, rhetoric and narrative should also be brought into the process of democratic deliberation.