The conceptions and shibboleths which are traditionally associated with the idea of democracy take on a veridical and directive meaning only when they are construed as marks and traits of an association which realizes the defining characteristics of a community.
Dewey states that traditional democratic concepts gain meaning only when linked to the characteristics of a true community.
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The relationships of husband and wife, parent and children, older and younger children, friend and friend, are the bonds from which authority proceeds.
There is therefore no necessary connection between the private character of an act and its non-social or anti-social character.
The democratic public is still largely inchoate and unorganized.
Is the public much more than what a cynical diplomat once called Italy: a geographical expression?