Issues serve as occasions for public involvement in politics

Democratic politics is concerned with issues that require organization of a public, and the modification of democratic spaces, if they are to be addressed. Accordingly, all sort of ideals, procedures, claims, and desires that may appear external to the problem at hand are drawn upon in the process of issue formation to the point that it is unclear whether the issue can be articulated because a public had configured itself. This indeed is a feature of successful enactments of political democracy: here issues serve as occasions for public involvement in politics. (Marres 2005, 168-169).