1. THE LEADERS OF CROWDS. The instinctive need of all beings forming a crowd to obey a leader--The psychology of the leaders of crowds--They alone can endow crowds with faith and organise them--The leaders forcibly despotic--Classification of the leaders--The part played by the will. 2. THE MEANS OF ACTION OF THE LEADERS. Affirmation, repetition, contagion--The respective part of these different factors--The way in which contagion may spread from the lower to the upper classes in a society--A popular opinion soon becomes a general opinion. 3. PRESTIGE. Definition of prestige and classification of its different kinds--Acquired prestige and personal prestige--Various examples--The way in which prestige is destroyed.
We are now acquainted with the mental constitution of crowds, and we also know what are the motives capable of making an impression on their mind. It remains to investigate how these motives may be set in action, and by whom they may usefully be turned to practical account.
