This presentation examines the transformative potential of metaverses as dynamic environments for civic participation and public policy innovation. Moving beyond their role as mere technological platforms, we analyze metaverses as emerging socio-political ecosystems facilitating novel forms of digital activism, decentralized governance experiments, and immersive political simulations—including virtual protests, transnational advocacy, and electoral modeling. These capabilities offer alternative public spheres challenging traditional state-controlled media and physical space constraints. However, significant structural barriers impede this potential, including corporate platform governance, algorithmic content moderation, data privacy concerns, the risk of instrumentalizing activism, and persistent digital inequalities exacerbated by VR accessibility gaps and varying digital literacy levels. This presentation argues that realizing metaverses as laboratories for digital democracy requires robust regulatory frameworks ensuring democratic accountability, transparency, and inclusivity. We explore how integrating technologies like blockchain and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), alongside immersive education, could enhance political engagement, but emphasize that their institutionalization demands careful policy intervention. Crucially, the findings suggest that governance models tested within these virtual environments hold the potential to influence offline political institutions. The presentation contributes to public policy theory by deconstructing traditional public sphere frameworks and proposing metaverse virtual spaces as autonomous arena-forming structures for digital publicity. Our analysis identifies key 'windows of opportunity' for legitimizing political activity within metaverses and develops scenarios for their effective use as platforms for enacting political action.