Disseminating ideas in support of or in opposition to some doctrine, institution or government.
Whatever one’s position on the justifiability of propaganda, and although we usually call these techniques by different names today, employing euphemisms such as “public relations” or “strategic communication”, it is a fact that techniques of manipulation are part and parcel of contemporary liberal democracies.
The argument for necessary propaganda rests upon an assumption that people are ultimately selfish, egotistical, power-hungry and hedonistic beings who require guidance and incentive; it therefore follows that propaganda is required by powerful actors in order to provide a degree of structure, order and purpose to a given society. In contrast, if one assumes that humans are ultimately good and well-inclined towards each other and to the natural world, and that they are capable of great things if conditions permit, propaganda emerging from self-interested and powerful actors equates to a parasite within the human mind that seeks to lead humans away from their better instincts.
In a world of conflicting ideas but one in which pluralism is tolerated, ideological and religious proselytizing, political rhetoric, corporate public relations, and consumer product advertising, all consciously utilize the most advanced techniques of propaganda or opinion influencing.
[T]he conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. (Edward Bernays)
You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to. (Pink Floyd)
As opposed to educating, propagandizing does violence to its audience by inflicting conclusions and values upon them.
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When successful, propagandizing provides people with different ideas, but this does not necessarily change their action
One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. (Carl Sagan)