in this conception of democracy the public realm includes not just the political realm as is usual the practice in the republican or democratic project hannah arendt cornelius castoriadis murray bookchin et al but also the economic social and ecological realms the political realm is the sphere of political decision-making the area in which political power is exercised the economic realm is the sphere of economic decision-making the area in which economic power is exercised with respect to the broad economic choices that any scarcity society has to make the social realm is the sphere of decision-making in the workplace the education place and any other economic or cultural institution which is a constituent element of a democratic society the public realm could be extended to include the "ecological realm" which may be defined as the sphere of the relations between society and nature therefore the public realm in contrast to the private realm includes any area of human activity in which decisions can be made collectively and democratically