THE PHANTOM PUBLIC BY WALTER LIPPMANN NEW YORK HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC. Printed in the U. S. A. TO LEARNED HAND “_The Voice of the People has been said to be the voice of God: and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact._”—Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 1787, at the Federal Convention (Yates’s notes, cited _Sources and Documents Illustrating the American Revolution_, edited by S. G. Morison). “... _consider ‘Government by Public Opinion’ as a formula.... It is an admirable formula: but it presupposes, not only that public opinion exists, but that on any particular question there is a public opinion ready to decide the issue. Indeed, it presupposes that the supreme statesman in democratic government is public opinion. Many of the shortcomings of democratic government are due to the fact that public opinion is not necessarily a great statesman at all._”—From “Some Thoughts on Public Life,” a lecture by Viscount Grey of Fallodon, February 3, 1923. Contents PART I Chapter Page I. The Disenchanted Man 13 II. The Unattainable Ideal 22 III. Agents and Bystanders 40 IV. What the Public Does 54 V. The Neutralization of Arbitrary Force 63 PART II VI. The Question Aristotle Asked 77 VII. The Nature of a Problem 81 VIII. Social Contracts 95 IX. The Two Questions Before the Public 107 X. The Main Value of Public Debate 110 XI. The Defective Rule 115 XII. The Criteria of Reform 125 XIII. The Principles of Public Opinion 143 PART III XIV. Society in Its Place 155 XV. Absentee Rulers 173 XVI. The Realms of Disorder 187 Index 201 PART I Chapter I THE DISENCHANTED MAN 1