This study incorporates the perspective of deliberative democracy in proposing a framework for evaluating relationships between civic education and political development. Findings support a conception of deliberative learning as a process in which interactive curricula result in the diffusion of discursive inclinations to families and peer groups. These orientations, in turn, foster receptivity to future opportunities for learning through news attention and primary-group discussion. Data were derived from an evaluation of high school curricula taught in conjunction with the 2002 election. Participation in deliberative instruction predicted the following behaviors one year later: news attention, issue salience, political discussion with parents and friends, size of discussion network, willingness to disagree and to listen to opponents, and testing out opinions in conversation. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)