While some expected the market to liberate people from oppression, Dewey argues, market-structures have created their own problems – as he puts it, "the same forces which have brought about the forms of democratic government, general suffrage, executives and legislators chosen by majority vote, have also brought about conditions which halt the social and humane ideals that demand the utilization of government as the genuine instrumentality of an inclusive and fraternally associated public."
Dewey suggests that some people thought the market would free individuals from oppression, but he argues that market-structures have created new challenges. He notes that the same forces that led to democratic reforms, such as universal suffrage and elected officials, also undermined social and humane ideals.