Toward a Science of Propaganda

Author(s): Brett Silverstein

Source: Political Psychology, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Mar., 1987), pp. 49-59
Published by: International Society of Political Psychology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3790986
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Political Psychology, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1987

Toward a Science of Propaganda

Brett Silverstein'

Propaganda, which entails much more than communications delivered wit

the conscious intent of manipulation, has become an important and pervasive
factor in modern sociopolitical systems. In the 1930s, psychologists,
sociologists, and educators were active in the field of propaganda analysis
At the present time, much propaganda research is being done but becaus
it is dispersed among many disciplines it lacks a basic body of literature,
shared set of techniques, rules for evaluating its quality, and a channel o
communication between scholars doing such research. After using examples
from American print journalism to describe the range of means by whic
propaganda may be spread, this article discusses the considerations that would
be relevant in reformulating a science of propaganda as a subdiscipline o
political psychology.

KEY WORDS: propaganda; communication; ideology; media.

INTRODUCTION

Many people, upon hearing the term propaganda, think o

pamphlets written by revolutionary groups or information plan
try during wartime by agents of an enemy power. In his theor
ment of the topic, Jacques Ellul (1973) calls the type of propaga
to incite revolution or to undermine existing regimes the "propa
tion."
Ellul also describes another type which he believes to be much more
important than agitation propaganda for people living in developed nations.
Every modern social system uses what Ellul calls the "propaganda of integra-
tion" to promote acceptance and support among its citizens for that system.

'Psychology Department, City College of New York, New York, New York 10031.
49

0162-895X/87/0300-0049$05.00/1 @ 1987 International Society of Political Psychology

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 50 Silverstein

Integration
tion for lon
Integration
small groups
in the main c
books, politi
powerful, an
recognize de
because it is
of the societ
has taken pl
a major fact
The subtlet
da in modern
of political p
issues that ar
da analysis.
It is interesting to note that just such a subdiscipline began to develop
in the 1930s when a group of social psychologists, sociologists, and educators
formed the Institute for Propaganda Analysis. The Institute published 50
analytical bulletins, a teacher's guide, and several other books (Lee, 1978).
In the early 1950s, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
published an anthology of work on propaganda (Katz et al., 1954). But World
War II, during which scholars who were doing propaganda research felt that
analyzing American propaganda would be unpatriotic, put an end to the In-
stitute and the McCarthy period that followed further dampened enthusiasm
for propaganda analysis.
Nowadays, a great deal of work that might be termed propaganda
analysis is being done under the auspices of many disciplines, including social
psychology, political science, journalism, communications, education, seman-
tics, and sociology, and is published in places ranging from intelligence jour-
nals such as the Covert Action Information Bulletin, and press reviews such
as the Columbia Journalism Review to the Harvard Educational Review. As
a result of this dispersal among various disciplines, propaganda analysis lack
a basic body of literature, a shared set of techniques, rules for evaluatin
the quality of propaganda research, and a channel of communication be
ween scholars doing such research. These are all necessary if we are to fully
understand the role played by propaganda in modern sociopolitical systems.
It is important here to point out an assumption that may be disput
by some psychologists that underlies all propaganda analysis: That belief
attitudes, and cognitions play a crucial role in the determination of politica
opinions and behavior. Propaganda researchers should participate in dete

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 Propaganda 51

mining the ex
become actively
what people re
political action
The term pr
delivered with
exhaustive of a
portant role,
a variety of w
governments
The range of
is indicated b
seldom tell rep
ly, but still re
tator Francisc
a report on Sp
good" (Gans, 19
nam to report
in the words
rejected by Tim
"Government
Sometimes con
4, 1982, Thom
New York Tim
the Israelis tha
time in 64 day
discriminate r
Although he fe
day, the editor
story, very m
(Cockburn, 19
The political p
obvious. In 1966 the New York Times invited CIA director John McCone
to read a series of articles about the CIA before they were published. He
suggested some changes (Newfield, 1970). When Ramparts magazine was
ready to publish an expose of the link between the CIA and the National
Student Association, the CIA began an investigation of Ramparts and con-
vinced the Internal Revenue Service to check the tax returns of the people
who backed the magazine (Mackenzie, 1981). In the late 1960s, the FBI con-
vinced Columbia Records and other companies to withdraw their advertis-
ing from underground newspapers, like the Berkeley Barb, that had come
out against the Vietnam War. In the words of an FBI memo regarding two

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52 Silverstein

of these pa
counterintel
cial support
out of busi
The censors
the New Yo
dent radica
radicals in t
explain the
ran the arti
9 months th
to report at
stead to oth
The self-cen
(1937), in in
jor newspap
their paper
in order to
to agreed th
stories play
But most o
newspapers
stories they
(1945) perfo
a number of
well-dresse
The man wit
was asked to
in turn wou
that in over
sion of the
black man b
in the study
mation, pr
"assimilatio
fect their p
ed reporters
Thus the p
not necessar
bureau of p
effects of t
Other socia

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 Propaganda 53

both similaritie
paganda is dis

CENTRAL QUESTIONS OF PROPAGANDA ANALYSIS

A number of questions (outlined in Table I) are central to the su

discipline of propaganda analysis. Propaganda analysts must study how pro-
paganda enters the channels of communication of modern societies and how
it is spread.
We must also formulate categories to be used in analyzing the forms
that propaganda takes in the various communications channels. That is, we
need to know what structures are used to spread propaganda. These struc-
tures might usefully be characterized as those that deal with the processes
of communications and those that deal with the contents.
Some of the process structures that have been studied include the selec-
tion of photographs that are printed in newspapers and magazines (Gitlin
1980), the choice of people interviewed in television reporting (Glasgow
University Media Group, 1982), the wording of review questions in high
school history textbooks (Anyon, 1979), the well-known propaganda techni-
ques codified by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis, including bandwagon
appeals, glittering generalities, plain folks etc. (Lee, 1952), and the biased
use of statistics (Horwitz and Ferleger, 1980).
Some of the content structures that have been studied are the ethnocen-
tric treatment of underdeveloped nations (Dorfman and Mattelart, 1975),
the selective application of the term "terrorism" to apply to the action of
forces rebelling against U.S. allies but not to the actions of the allies
themselves (Herman, 1982), and exaggerated descriptions of enemy atrocities
during wartime (Vaughan, 1980).
Propaganda researchers are also interested in the similarities and dif-
ferences between the means by which propaganda is spread in different media
and different societies. Are the categories discussed above useful for all
media? If so, is some translation needed to apply categories developed in
one medium to another medium? In what ways are the propaganda systems
of the Soviet Union similar and in what ways different from those of the
United States? Are there a limited number of types of systems of propagan-
da that are used in all societies? What form does propaganda take in less
technologically-developed societies?
Propaganda analysis is not the same as mass media research for it in-
corporates much of what might be termed the psychology of ideology. Thus,
other questions of interest include: How is propaganda passed through social
networks and by means of socialization processes within the family? How

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 54 Silverstein

Table I. Suggest
Central questio
How does prop
What forms do
Process
Content
How does propaganda differ for:
Different media
Different societies
Industrialized versus nonindustrialized
Market versus planned economies
Different individuals
Personality variables
Cognitive styles
Education and access to information
Methods
Experimental attitude change
Investigative journalism
Historical-archival
Abstraction
Linguistic/semantic analyses
Content analyses
Sociology of mass communication

do interpersonal processes like conformity, intrapsychic processes like

dissonance reduction, communication processes like assimilation, and cognitive
processes like primacy or recency effects combine to affect the response to
propaganda? Is susceptibility to propaganda based on particular cognitive
biases or logical errors?
Individual differences may also be important. Who is most affected
by propaganda? Do personality variables or styles of cognitive processing
affect susceptibility to propaganda? Ellul (1973) claims that contrary to
popular belief, as a result of their increased exposure to propaganda, highly
educated, well-informed citizens of modern societies are more, not less, open
to propaganda than are people who receive less information. This hypothesis
must be tested. Do some forms of information and education produce greater
susceptibility to propaganda while others produce less?
This brings up an important question regarding the application of pro-
paganda analysis: Is it possible to develop means of training people to
recognize and resist propaganda? McGuire's work on innoculation against
attitude change (1968) might lead us to be skeptical about this possibility
but the ability of many fledgeling researchers to learn to recognize and avoid
methodological errors such as the confusion of correlation and causation
leads me to believe that people can be taught to resist propaganda. Much
more work must be done on this question.

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 Propaganda 55

It may be obv
of propaganda
responses to p
the means by w
in which prop
the categories
and his colleag
analysis focuses
language, logi
In discussing
becomes impor
analysis, for w
fects of propa
more effective
cannot ignore th
will be used bu
simply employ
study would m
to determine w
be most usefu
sion among pr
should be limite
be prevented; a
the limits of ethical research.

THE METHODS OF PROPAGANDA ANALYSIS

Political psychologists who are familiar with the literature on

change and on the effects of the mass media already know man
methods that are useful in propaganda research. Propaganda researc
also made good use of techniques borrowed from other discipli
techniques are outlined in Table I.]
In order to draw conclusions about whether or not a particu
ple of propaganda was disseminated with the conscious intent to ma
propaganda analysts must use some of the methods developed by in
journalists and historians, particularly the unearthing of quotes fro
correspondence and in-house memoranda. This method has been
fectively by Ewen (1977) to show that some of the founders of the
modern advertising consciously planned to create an ethic of con
and to convince immigrants to the United States that their old cust

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56 Silverstein

unAmerican
"Viva Zapata
tionary lead
Historical-a
treatment g
actually goin
such inform
(1982) were
paign organi
the Americ
Arbenz, the
Another m
that of abst
paganda that
or in differ
ques that ha
in conflict w
is, the descri
States would
States decla
attacking t
damage tha
arrive soon
will explode
1965). After
Committee o
support for
let entitled

Now let us pi
mans would m
set themselves
shells the city
advance towar
render and th
Railroad of Ne
men. Angered
either, they p
One feeble old
in her desk dr

In 1948 Loo
Seize Detroi
to overrun
such lines a
is being shar

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 Propaganda 57

war upon the U

notice but in a s
style"; "The firs
squads. On spli
and political le
those sections
people to Comm
ment, embolde
kill, loot and d
is how to make
meeting the req
ble to combine t
ing the power o
Linguistic/sem
of language th
1984) which has
classic novel of
One of the sim
of the informat
tent analyses. H
the New York
tions scheduled
whereas freedo
six of the eight
tioned in none
even though fr
than it is in N

THE PROBLEM OF SAMPLING

This example points up the relevance of sampling to

analysis. Sometimes, particularly when the goal is training people
and resist propaganda, it is enough simply to demonstrate that a
propaganda technique has been used a number of times. The
of hypothetical attacks that were described above exemplify
sampling. In other instances, it is enough to select examples from
sources in order to make the case that a particular example of
is important because many people were exposed to it, or from high
sources in order to make the case that if even the careful sou
New York Times, contain such propaganda, imagine how mu
curs in the less rigorous sources like the New York Post.

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 58 Silverstein

Often, how
used by Her
ment given
quite power
number of t
were ment
Andrei Sakh
are fighting
chbishop Camara of Brazil-4, Heri Akhmadi of Indonesia-0.)

VALUES IN PROPAGANDA RESEARCH

The selection of the studies used to exemplify the points m

paper points up the issue of values in propaganda research. M
da analysts would probably base their work on a belief in bas
that is, the idea that an informed citizenry is good while
citizenry is not. (This is not necessarily to say that all prop
For example, many propaganda analysts supported the methods
morale and to stimulate effort in the fight against Nazism duri
II.) But the issue of value orientation in propaganda research
by the problem of selecting propaganda to analyze. There ar
ferences in values between the studies of the media biases ag
done by the corporate-sponsored organization Accuracy in M
analyses of CIA propaganda that appear in the Covert Action
Bulletin.
The effect of ideology on propaganda analysis may lead some scholars
to question the possibility of the field ever becoming scientific. But other
disciplines with ideological implications have made some progress despite
this difficulty. The problem would be minimized if there were accepted criteria
by which to judge propaganda analyses and places where researchers work-
ing from differing ideologies could communicate their findings to one another
and perhaps engage in debate. Although no science, particularly no science
of political behavior, can ever be completely value free, it should be possible
by applying accepted principals of research methodology to come to some
shared understanding of how propaganda works. That there will be a great
deal of irreducible disagreement is inevitable and not necessarily inappropriate
for a young subdiscipline.
These ideological issues become particularly touchy because the most
influential propaganda in a society is integration propaganda. As a result,
in the United States, for example, while studies might be done of Nazi,
Chinese, British, or Soviet propaganda, or of anti-American biases in various

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 Propaganda 59

media, much pr
port is maintai
Thus, the fiel
But if we agree
politically nor s
propaganda rese
ly important. A
that many of t
by propaganda,
involved in help

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