Abstract: The deliberative democracy practices at the grassroots level of China and USA have some differences. They exist in participant,content and procedure. The reasons are mainly subjective, such as political institution and culture, stage of society and deliberative democracy tradition. Compared with the two practices, China ought to insist its some competitive advantages and strengthen its pertinence. In addition, it is vital for China to absorb helpful experience from the US and explore how to construct and develop deliberative democracy at the grassroots level of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Key words: deliberation at the grassroots level, democratic talkfest in Wenling, 21st century town meeting

摘要： 中美基层协商民主实践形式在协商民主的主体、内容和程序上都存在一定差异，究其原因主要是两国政治制度、政治文化差异和社会发展处在不同阶段，以及基层协商民主的传统不同等。中国基层协商民主建设既要坚持现有做法，加强建设的针对性，也要借鉴美国等国家比较成熟的基层协商经验，探索中国特色社会主义基层协商民主建设之路。

关键词: 基层协商, 温岭恳谈会, 21世纪城镇会议