On the origin of the vector meson dominance

We consider a model, which has been suggested recently to describe low-lying vector mesons as collective excitations of qq pairs. That model is an explicit realization, in terms of a NJL-like effective lagrangian, of the old idea proposed by Caldi and Pagels to reconcile the quark model with PCAC. In this note we investigate the role of dormant Goldstone bosons in the electromagnetic current. We derive and discuss in detail the special features of this approach: the soft vector meson decoupling mechanism and the microscopic picture that unifies PCAC with vector meson dominance. ((orig.))