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The Public

The word public is generally used to refer to a large group of people. It is sometimes used as synonymous with crowd. The members of the public need not collect together in one place.

They may be dispersed and not know each other. According to Anderson and Parker a public is that form of collectivity which includes a number of dispersed and non-organized individuals who are faced with an issue about which there may be differences of opinion.

According to Kimball Young public refers to a rather loosely organized and conjoined grouping of people with a common interest. Ginsberg defines public as an unorganized and amorphous aggregation of individuals who are bound together by common opinion and desires but are too numerous for each to maintain personal relations with the others.

The public is an aggregation of persons, moving in a common universe of discourse, confronted by an issue or a value divided in their opinion regarding ways to meet the issue or to appraise the value and engaging in discussion.