Dbq Essay On Political Propaganda

Propaganda is information that is biased to promote one point of view. Propaganda is mostly used during political campaigns. It is one of the most widely used and effective political tactics. It gives its user the opportunity to move people to action in both positive and negative ways, by either bringing fame or shame to a selected person or idea. Propaganda is used to sell a candidate or a belief to the public, by ruining the opponent’s chances of winning, or by falsely advertising an idea of their own as better than one of their opponents.

Stacking the Deck is a big part of political propaganda. This means that the candidate is including only positive facts and leaving out the negative ones. When Reagan was president, there was a lot of positive

statistics showing that he helped America greatly(document B). The numbers and facts impressed people greatly and made them favor Reagan a lot more. This is one of the biggest forms of propaganda out today. When you hear the good things that people have done, that gives you the opportunity to get other people on your side and you'll have a better chance at getting votes.
Plain folks is the method of appealing as an ordinary person.

Eisenhower was on the tv and he was talking about how his wife talks to him about the costs of living(Document C). This is his way of acting as if he is an ordinary person. This is very appealing to the audience of America because it makes them feel like Eisenhower is no different from them. Ordinary people know what that normal cost of living are and Eisenhower talking about it gives them the feel that they are no different from him.

Glittering Generalities grabs people's attention and makes them want to vote for you. They do not know that the phrases being used are meaningless. They just hear things that appeal to them and catch their attention. “Retirees support”(document A) is an example of glittering generalities. This phrase is something that catches their attention but nothing is really to be done about the situation.

Using Negative or Attack Ads involves saying bad things about your opponent. It's basically making voters scared about their future if the other candidate wins. The ad that was posted by former president George Bush was to influence voters to vote for him instead of his opponent. He put out an ad saying that his opponent was against our defense system and that worried our nation. This greatly limited his opponents chances of getting

votes.
Propaganda is a big world wide effective tactic. In each type of propaganda it brings fame or shame to the running candidate or their ideas. Propaganda either ruins the opponent’s chances of winning, or advertises an idea of their own as being better than their opponents. Propaganda influences the world greatly and it helps them decide on what they want their leader to be like. Even though the facts may not always be true or helpful towards society, political propaganda is a big part of history that will forever remain and have an affect on today's world.