Political democracy has emerged as a kind of net consequence of a vast multitude of responsive adjustments to a vast number of situations, no two of which were alike, but which tended to converge to a common outcome.
Dewey describes political democracy as a result of diverse social adjustments rather than a singular political force.
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That the state should be to some a deity and to others a devil is another evidence of the defects of the premises from which discussion sets out.
But in this respect he does not differ from those explicitly designated public officials who have also been known to betray the interest committed to them instead of faithfully representing it.
In short, private acts may be socially valuable both by indirect consequences and by direct intention.
There are even those who hold that the presumption is always that social loss will result from agents of the public doing anything which could be done by persons in their private capacity.