The article challenges the prevailing view that Russia lacks traditions of dialogue between society and the government. Based on historical and legal analysis, it offers a new perspective on the Zemsky Sobors of the 17th century through the prism of the modern theory of deliberative democracy. The article substantiates the concept of the people as active participants in the formulation of state decisions. It shows that the sobors performed the functions of public control (certifying that state policy conformed to “zemsky [land's] interests”) and legitimation of power (confirming the monarch).