BARRIERS TO COMMON ACTION.

This paper deals with the period in the development of issues before crystallization takes place and attempts to discover some of the causes making for a fast or a slow process of definition. The formation of "public opinion" by advertising methods and the skillful, if often conscienceless, use of propaganda are common enough phenomena of every political campaign. But the popularization of ideas upon which political action is to be based has too often waited for the inspiration and interpretation of a popular leader. The art of creating widespread demand for such reforms as the outlawry of war, the entrance of the United States into the League (or a League) of Nations, or the release of political prisoners--to use current examples--has too often been based on traditional methods and an accepted technique without sufficient attention to the changed and changing aspects of contemporary society. The most significant change from this point of view is the increase, in this country, during the past three or four generations, in economic stratification with the consequent sharpening of intellectual frontiers. The growth in "class consciousness" has not been confined to the manual workers.