Propaganda

Mass suggestion or influence through the manipulation of symbols and of individuals. Like other forms of persuasion, propaganda aims to communicate a point of view in a way that leads the target audience to adopt that point of view, doctrine, or practice as its own. Propaganda differs from other forms of persuasion, in that it is typically one-way communication that is carefully controlled, systematic, sustained, and well organized, often intended to damage an opposing viewpoint.

Propaganda Concepts and Techniques

Propaganda relies on two basic psychological principles to achieve its purposes: cognitive dissonance and rationalization. First articulated in the 1950s, cognitive dissonance is said to occur when a person simultaneously holds two inconsistent beliefs, such as an aversion to killing versus the need to take up arms to defend one's country. Over time, this state of inconsistency becomes so uncomfortable that individuals strive to reduce the conflict in the easiest way possible. In doing so, they will artificially alter one or both cognitions to make them fit together more easily. For example, people historically have justified and provided legal sanction for taking life during wartime, even though they condemn and punish it in times of peace.

Propagandists also rely upon what is commonly referred to as the rationalization trap. The trap is set by intentionally arousing a person's feelings of cognitive dissonance by threatening his or her sense of self-esteem or security. It is then sprung by offering a single solution to reduce the dissonance. In times of armed conflict, one of the most common methods of reducing dissonance is through dehumanization. For example, most people are reluctant to treat others inhumanely. To overcome this hesitation, a propagandist might portray a particular group of people as so dangerous that to offer them any consideration or humane treatment would be a threat to national security. Dehumanizing a group in this way makes it easier for members of the propagandist's target audience to maltreat members of that group.

Scholars began systematic investigation into the use of propaganda during the 1930s and 1940s. Following an extensive examination of World War I propaganda, the U.S. Institute for Propaganda Analysis in 1938 suggested that nearly all propaganda relied upon one or more of several standard communicative devices. These included name-calling (applying a [Page 604]negative label without evidence); the glittering generality (applying a positive label without evidence); transfer (associating an untested idea with a group that possess a positive popular image, often through the use of symbols); the testimonial (using the image of a person or persona to promote an idea, often through quotations or photographs); the plain folks device (appealing through an emotional association with the average citizen); card-stacking (using deception through underemphasis and/or overemphasis of selected evidence); and bandwagoning (appealing to the desire to be associated with the popular opinion or the behavior of the majority).

Brief History of U.S. Propaganda

Propaganda played an extremely significant role in spreading support for independence in the American colonies. The Committee on Correspondence, a loose-knit group that traveled along the east coast promoting revolutionary ideas, represents one of the earliest effective examples of political spin—reporting and discussing current events with a partisan slant. At the same time, Thomas Paine's fiery leaflet Common Sense, one of the first widely disseminated pieces of American propaganda, both riled and rallied readers with its impassioned arguments for independence from England.

...