# The Public Must Be Put in Its Place by Walter Lippmann > “The public must be put in its place, so that it may exercise its own powers, but no less and perhaps even more, so that each of us may live free of the trampling and the roar of a bewildered herd.” > **— Walter Lippmann**, *The Phantom Public, 1925* ## Sources and Context - **Published source:** [The Phantom Public, 1925](https://www.mediastudies.asia/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Walter_Lippmann_The_Phantom_Public_InternationaBookZZ.org_.pdf) — complete digitized text, Chapter XIV, “Society in Its Place,” carrying the full sentence and the restored clause “so that it may exercise its own powers.” - **Article placement:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] quotes this statement in its analysis of AI danger, public competence, strategic acceleration and machine succession. - **Editorial treatment:** The Reminder reproduces the complete contiguous wording quoted in the article without substantive alteration. - **Context:** Lippmann's conclusion limits the public's governing role so private life and expert action are not continually trampled by mass opinion. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] - **Companion article:** [[articles/Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen|Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen]] - **Companion article:** [[articles/Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse|Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/AI Transition Governance|AI Transition Governance]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Walter Lippmann|Walter Lippmann]] - [[wiki/Public Epistemic Capacity|Public Epistemic Capacity]] - [[wiki/Democratic Deliberation|Democratic Deliberation]] - [[wiki/Two-Channel AI Governance|Two-Channel AI Governance]] - [[wiki/Public Mythology|Public Mythology]] - [[wiki/Media Systems|Media Systems]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “The public must be put in its place, so that it may exercise its own powers, but no less and perhaps even more, so that each of us may live free of the trampling and the roar of a bewildered herd.” — Walter Lippmann, The Phantom Public, 1925 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-walter-lippmann-the-public-must-be-put-in-its-place ```