The Public and its Problems is a work of political philosophy that begins by introducing the reader to two very different groups - the "state" and the "public". Dewey has a unique standpoint on the two groups - not that one overly governs the other - but that negative actions fuel both of the groups.
In this work of philosophy, it is described that a public does not actually exist until a problem occurs. When it does, a public is formed, and is based on alleviating the problem and solving it. The problem can usually be fixed through legislation, which is passed by the members of the public that have bravely risen above the others. The main idea of this thought is that a public is only "called into action" when there is a reason, usually negative, for it do be called as so.
However, the second half of The Public and its Problems takes a more common approach to government, citing its negativities. In a democracy, Dewey believes, lawmakers and power-holders try to stifle the problems that the public has, without solving them. In this way, the public will remain a public, as there are still problems, and therefore the lawmakers have a public to control. Another way the public is controlled is by artificially adding multiple publics. In Dewey's view of what we call "minorities", when there are too many publics, they all become distracted from the real problems, and that is the goal of the governing powers.
Dewey sums up his 195 page view on politics by explaining that democracy should never happen on a large scale; rather a local environment. In that way, there can always be an isolated public that can easily express problems without having to be heard over the rest of the crowd.
