Public Opinion (1922), by Walter Lippman, is a critical assessment of functional democratic government, especially the irrational, and often self-serving, social perceptions that influence individual behavior, and prevent optimal societal cohesion. (Introduction by author)

This is the first book in the bibliography of Walter Lippmann, written three years after emerging from Harvard where he studied under the pragmatists Santayana and James. Although the work is a century old, the reader of today may still find in it, with its focus on practical human needs, a refreshing view towards the fundamental purpose (and persistent flaws) of politics, and indeed government itself, just as relevant and meaningful today as when it was written.