"All political revolutions, not affected by foreign conquest, originate in moral revolutions. The subversion of established institutions is merely one consequence of the previous subversion of established opinions"

John Stuart Mill identifies the deep roots of political change, proposing that the observable, outward shifts in government or law, the revolutions that alter the face of institutions, are actually secondary, preceded by a profound transformation within society’s moral consciousness. He asserts that the visible upheaval and restructuring of political institutions do not occur in isolation or as spontaneous events; rather, they emerge as symptoms of an earlier, less tangible revolution in collective beliefs, values, and moral judgments.

When people begin to question, doubt, or reject the prevailing norms and established ideas that once underpinned their society, a disruption takes place within the public mind. This moral upheaval subtly erodes the legitimacy of existing institutions, weakening their foundation and making it possible, or even inevitable, for more concrete, political revolutions to follow. Change, therefore, moves from the inside out. The first and most significant battleground is the citadel of opinion: the ethos, values, and shared assumptions that inform and justify the rules, laws, and leaders currently in power.

Mill’s insight emphasizes the primacy of intellectual and ethical change. The subversion of institutions is a visible effect, not a root cause; it is enabled only when the society’s moral revolution has fundamentally undermined the old order’s credibility. He is careful to distinguish this process from revolutions caused by foreign conquest, which are imposed from without rather than arising organically from within the populace.

Implicit is a recognition that lasting political change must be prepared in the realm of ideas and morals. If institutions change without a preceding change of heart and mind, the new order cannot be stable or legitimate. Thus, Mill calls attention to the power of collective opinion, arguing that the architecture of society, its laws, structures, and authorities, rests first upon its beliefs about right and wrong, justice and injustice, legitimacy and usurpation. The revolution in hearts and minds always precedes, and justifies, the revolution in the streets and assembly halls.