In his second lecture Dicey argued that po liti cal change tends to begin not with a conviction growing up "spontaneously among the multitude," but rather through the concerted efforts of "some single thinker or school of thinkers." He then described how the pro cess would typically unfold: "A new and, let us assume, a true idea presents itself to some one man of originality or genius; the discoverer of the new conception, or some follower who has embraced it with enthusiasm, preaches it to his friends or disciples, they in their turn become impressed with its importance and its truth, and gradually a whole school accept the new creed." Eventually "the preachers of truth make an impression, either directly upon the general public or upon some person of eminence, say a leading statesman, who stands in a position to impress ordinary people and thus to win the support of the nation." He saw ideas as spreading from one individual to a group of sympathizers, to those in positions of infl uence, and fi nally to a broad mass of public constituents. This was not a rapid pro cess but rather "gradual, or slow, and continuous," often taking twenty or thirty years to unfold.

Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, loc. 554