But this does not mean that some mysterious collective agency is making decisions, but that some few persons who know what they are about are taking advantage of massed force to conduct the mob their way, boss a political machine, and manage the affairs of corporate business.
Dewey clarifies that decisions are made by individuals leveraging collective power, not by an abstract collective agency.
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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.
The idea remains barren and empty save as it is incarnated in human relationships.
The democratic public is still largely inchoate and unorganized.
The invasion of the community by the new and relatively impersonal and mechanical modes of combined human behavior is the outstanding fact of modern life.