Propaganda and Persuasion

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Propaganda and Persuasion

affairs, rather than as a fixed body of individuals. He believed that public opinion was effective only if those interested persons supported or opposed the "actors" in public affairs. Speier (1950) thought public opinion existed when a unique "right" is granted to a significant portion of extragovernmen tal persons: In its most attenuated form this right asserts itself as the expectation that the government will reveal and explain its decisions in order to enable people outside the government to think and talk about these decisions, or to put it in terms of democratic amenities, in order to assure "the success" of the govern ment's policy. (quoted in Altheide & Johnson, 1980, p. 7) Mitchell (1970) gave four forms that public opinion usually takes: (a) popular opinion as generalized support for an institution, regime, or political system (as opposed to apathy, withdrawal, or alienation); (b) pat terns of group loyalties and identifications; (c) public preferences for select leaders; and (d) intensely held opinions prevalent among a large public regarding public issues and current affairs (pp. 60-61). Mitchell likened the propagandist's management of public opinion to "a burning glass which collects and focuses the diffused warmth of popular emotions, concentrating them upon a specific issue on which the warmth becomes heat and may reach the firing-point of revivals, risings, revolts, revolu tions" (p. 111). The Manipulation of Behavior Ultimately, the goal of propaganda is to manipulate behavior and behav ioral patterns; external rather than internal public opinion is sought. Voting, buying products, selecting entertainment, joining organizations, displaying symbols, fighting for a cause, donating to an organization, and other forms of action responses are sought from the audiences who are addressed by the persuader and the propagandist. These are overt behaviors that can be observed as both verbal and nonverbal responses. According to Triandis (1977), other categories of behavior are attributive behavior, derived from the conclusions drawn about the internal states of others from observations of their behavior, and affective behavior, emotional reactions to people and events. An example of an attributive behavior is a manufacturer concluding, "Consumers buy our product regularly; therefore, they must like it." Examples of affective behaviors are cheering and yelling for a political candidate and experiencing a burst of pride when the national anthem is sung. Triandis pointed out that behaviors become habits or