Public Opinion & Decision Making

While both persuasion and propaganda may be rooted, however loosely, in fact, neither relies on the consumer's intelligence to interpret the facts for themselves and come to a conclusion on the particular topic about which they are being enticed to decide. Ironically, to do so would leave too much of the decision-making power in the hands of the individual. Instead, communication intended to influence decision-making in a democracy is designed to try and make the decision for them. This, however, is entirely "un-American" and exactly the opposite of what is necessary to be a responsible citizen in a democracy û one must find the root of their own soul first, and then from that very primary experience, gather sources from a variety of perspectives in order to make a truly educated decision.

Consider the words of Plato in his Phaedrus. Socrates says:

A man must know the truth about all the particular things of which he speaks or writes and must be able to define everything separately; then when he has defined them, he must know how to divide them

. . .
anti-individualism to the "nth" degree. Americans must seek the meaning of their lives for themselves and then look to politicians only as a source of fulfilling their goals and beliefs on their behalf. Indeed, not all forms of consumer advertising can be adequately applied to a political commentary û tactics regarding isolation, self-esteem and guilt may be less applicable. But certainly, as evidenced by recent elections, tactics of fear as a powerful tool of persuasion are often employed. In fact, Woodward says, "this appeal is so basic that it is difficult to find an ad that does not play upon it in some fashion" (203). Whether it be inciting fear over an on-going war or the potential of terrorist attacks; fear of the draft or fear of environmental ruin; politicians are notorious for employing the fear tactic because it gets into the heart of voters and weakens their ability to think rationally and objectively. Instead, Americans are "persuaded" as a result of these "tactics" that politicians and their "agents" employ in order to communicate their message. To them, persuasion, and its advertising tactics, is a game. To Americans, it should be a travesty. Villa, in Public Opinion, Moral Truth, and Citizenship, writes,
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
African Americans, Third Woodward, Phaedrus Socrates, Truth Citizenship, , Advertising Persuasion, Propaganda Australia, History Loewen, Furthermore Carey, Teacher Told, public opinion, qtd hill, art speech, persuasion propaganda, difference persuasion, democracy propaganda australia, taking risk, american individualism, shouldn't learn, risk democracy, americans understand, difference persuasion propaganda, risk democracy propaganda, taking risk democracy,
Approximate Word count = 1763
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Public Opinion & Decision Making