Download PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES Propaganda may be defined as a

PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
Propaganda may be defined as a deliberate attempt to persuade a person to accept a point
of view or take a certain action. Politicians use propaganda to try to convince voters to
support them and their ideas. Some of the propaganda techniques used to influence
people include:
1.
GLITTERING GENERALITIES
Using words which sound good, but really don’t say much; nothing specific is
said; using catchy slogans.
EXAMPLES: Candidates claim to believe in “freedom,” “equality,” “justice,”
etc.; slogans such as “The Education President,” “A candidate from the
grassroots.”
2.
CARD STACKING
Telling only one side of the story, either all the good or all the bad things about a
candidate or product.
EXAMPLES: Brochure listing all of the positive achievements of a candidate or
recounts a list of what are called “unwise votes” of the opponent.
3.
JUST PLAIN FOLKS
Pretending to be “one of the folks.”
EXAMPLES: Politicians playing with young children on a playground, referring
to small town values, wearing boots if appearing in Texas, aloha shirt and leis in
Hawaii and using the shaka sign, etc.
4.
NAME CALLING
Unpleasant names branded on an individual or a group or an idea; labeling a
person or his views as not worthwhile without examining the facts; name calling
is often entirely false.
EXAMPLES: Using words such as “crook,” racist,” “un-American,” or calling an
idea “foolish,” “hogwash,” “ridiculous,” etc.
5.
BANDWAGON
The “everybody’s doing it” approach; tries to convince you to support a winner.
EXAMPLES: Candidates release polls showing them far ahead of their
opposition; candidates refer to themselves as “frontrunners.”
6.
TRANSFER
Associating something respected with a candidate or product, trying to transfer
the respect to the candidate or product; includes using symbols.
EXAMPLES: Using patriotic symbols (red, white and blue; stars and stripes),
using pictures of historical figures in campaign literature (Washington, Lincoln,
Martin Luther King).