<p>Democracy is under pressure in the earliest democratic regimes and countries that recently became independent. So far, though, it is still standing and it remains attractive as an ideal, so reforms could perhaps wait. Instead of opting for such benign neglect this article shows that full reset is required. In our globalized world the growing numbers of people involved in politics and the missing time to make sound decisions have outdated the initial template conceived by the founders of democratic institutions in Western countries. Nowadays, the voluntary election of select people, chosen after due consideration, matters less than deliberation among equals, chosen at random. It is proposed here to imagine institutional reforms able to supplement votes in a general ballot by letting voters express their views in deliberating forums. Such new design would solve the basic contradiction between two goals—expanding the expression of the whole people’s will, and restricting deliberation to selected mini-publics. While decision-making becomes increasingly complex, the current lack of adequate institutional instruments to make room for moments of pause in the debate does not allow second thoughts, persuasion, and opinion change. In the absence of new formats, being deaf to counter arguments and reticent to compromise will dramatically weaken democracies. Rejuvenation of this regime will only come from institutional innovation—like the “citizens’ parliamentary committees” presented here for the first time. Meant to expand and deepen citizen’s participation without promoting a participatory democracy, this format has a longer time horizon, and it offers more opportunities to split the whole electorate in numerous mini-publics. I call this new design “reflexive democracy”, a regime in which thinking prevails over opting, and deliberation overcomes election.</p>