At the end of The Public and Its Problems , John Dewey alighted upon the “the problem of the public,” which is the improvement of the “methods of debate, discussion, and persuasion” . Given Dewey’s conception of democracy, one which is squarely focused on communicated experiences and beginning in conversation , the problem of the public is congruent with the problem of democracy . The vibrancy of democratic citizens in terms of their decision-making and efforts toward improving the common good (...) is predicated on the ability to improve discussion and debate, which is based on “freeing and perfecting .. (shrink)