The Role of Scholars and Intellectuals in Achieving Change

I'm interested in what is the role of scholars and intellectuals in achieving change. So when there was this incredible process that occurred in the in the late 60s and early 70s, we saw a big rise of classical liberal ideas. They laid the intellectual foundation. But to what extent is political change driven by ideas? And so, we're looking at people predominantly driven by their own self interest - not the role of ideas.