For example, British churches and rural and military charities have in recent years often felt under siege. In fact, one consequence of state efforts to force a civic conversation with minority religions since 9/11 was the creation of a level playing field between unequal institutions. Rather as Nike does not belong in the same trade association as a local sports shop, the Christian churches, with close to £1 billion in unrestricted cash flows, and more members than political parties and trade unions combined, should not be spoken of in the same breath as Wiccans and humanists. Likewise, with a war in Iraq and a high media profile, we might turn understandably and instinctively to a charity such as Help for Heroes and in doing so miss the huge mentoring networks gathered around retired servicemen. That the former Captain of HMS Invincible, Admiral Michael Gretton, upon retirement from the Navy, increased the number of Britons taking the Duke of Edinburgh Award to 300,000, should in future make him, and those like him, automatic sources of wisdom for government.

The real opportunity for the Big Society is not the policy options that smart advisers will pluck from innovation workshops to develop a social policy agenda on the home front. It is in linking it to the potential of a paradigm shift in thinking and ethics. 

A sustainable social legacy will emerge for David Cameron when civil servants, local government and trade unions, the voluntary sector and businesses — all these groups learn to think, speak and act differently. To disembody and contain the powerful beliefs and passions that the Prime Minister has set before us would be a tragedy. However, to secure future success they will need to grow and run beyond him. But what might this look like?

First, all party leaders could launch a foundation to work alongside their party whose aim would be to identify and train a new generation of political leaders who have had a civic and business life before entering the Westminster fray. If our future politicians could be prepared for civic times they would be less likely in the future to default to statism. These foundations could also be charged with supporting those institutions globally that are resisting tyranny. They would learn from the insights of pioneers in this field, such as Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and have a brief to be entrepreneurial in culture. Second, bishops and business leaders should petition the Queen to call a civic consultation. Gathering religions, entrepreneurs, the party leaders and entertainers in private, the Queen might urge them to launch a public campaign to mark her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. If such a coalition persuaded the people of this country to give just one per cent of their incomes to charity in honour of Her Majesty's lifetime of service, this would unlock a "Diamond Dividend" of around an extra £4 billion in donations. Third, the Foreign Office might now consider going even further than William Hague's recent announcement that he would focus on human rights. Building bigger societies could be mainstreamed as a priority habit in every embassy. Finally, the Big Society idea needs developing in ministerial and government language — but also beyond — as a cause of national and international significance for the decades to come and not only as a feature of the coalition's life. While this list is not exhaustive, no institution or enterprise should be let off the hook.

Indeed, in the crystal clear moments as I sat in that putative embassy in Zagreb, and as we awarded that jury's prize to our isolated lawyer in Serbia two decades later, the need to refashion the moral foundations of our social and civic fabric, both abroad and at home, seemed crushingly obvious. Just as it did when, on hearing David Cameron announce his intention to build a Big Society, I could not help but be thrilled.