This paper examines the influence of political propaganda on the masses and analyses the behavior of the interest groups when the power of propaganda is used to influence them. This paper will describe how the transition took place from the time the propaganda was just discovered to modern era propaganda and related the findings to various theories that are available about propaganda.
Keywords
Political, propaganda, persuasion
Introduction
Propaganda refers to certain type of communication strategy. It is one of the most used terms to describe global communications. This term is in use from centuries all over the world. Advancement in technology is taking place, communication technology is no far behind and hence propaganda is becoming increasingly
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Various theories and explanations are evidences to prove this. The study of persuasion and its roots was initially founded in Ancient Greece. The main concern of Greek philosophers was mainly with the issues of ethical means of persuasion. Aristotle also defined his principles of persuasion in his Rhetoric. Attempts have been made in order to understand principles of successful persuasion. Persuasion has been studied as an art for most of human history. Politics is often defined as the art of government; the central aim of political interaction can be stated as persuasion. Aristotle was the one who laid the foundation for the study of rhetoric. His approach towards the topic of rhetoric was analytical in nature and emphasized on three factors: ethos, pathos and …show more content…
Propaganda was first seen during World War I and then later its use flourished during the World War II. After the war, more emphasis and attention was given to persuasion. Later, the concept of behavior and behaviorism theory was the topic of research. Attention was also given to the contexts which are historical and cultural in nature and in which propaganda and persuasion were used and different meanings were constructed based on the experiences of the masses. Government leaders in order to mold public opinion on important issues both national and international, often use propaganda. Nongovernmental entities also use this so that they can get access to global communication channels for the purpose of public opinion formation or