Transcript Propaganda - social studies

APK: Activation of Prior Knowledge
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Write at least 3-5 sentences describing a time when…
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you
were convinced to do something after you were originally completely
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against it.
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Question of the Day
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How and why do political
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candidates use propaganda to try
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to win elections?
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Scale/Rubric: QOD
93-100/A-Restate the question and use specific
evidence to support your answer.
85-92/B-Restated (or partially restated questions) and
some use of evidence to support your answer.
77-84/C-Vague response with unclear evidence to
support answer.
70-76/D-No restated question and little to no
evidence to support answer.
0/F-Not attempted or completely off topic/
First of all: What is propaganda?
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Any message (print, video, audio, etc.) that is
meant to influence people to think in a certain
way.

Propaganda is used to help people form opinions
and even change their minds about a person or
political issue such as taxes and certain laws.
Bandwagon

Everybody else is voting for him/her (the
candidate) so you should too!
Glittering generality

A statement or phrase that is vague but catchy
and is hard to know what it really means.
What hope?
What action?
What change?
Just Plain Folks

This is when a candidate wants you to know or
think he/she is an ordinary, regular person like
you.
Name calling

This is when candidates
criticize their opponents
and accuse them of
having negative
qualities.
Stack Cards/Card Stacking

This is when a candidate tries to create a long list of
positive traits he/she has and good reasons that
people should vote for him/her or a list of negative
traits his/her opponent has that make him/her
unelectable.
Emotional appeal

This is when a candidate
tries to connect with
voters’ emotions/feelings
to make voters care about
issues he/she supports to
so vote for him/her.
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Fear, anger, happiness,
sadness are feelings the
candidate wants voters to
experience.
Scientific approach

This is when
candidates try to
convince people of
their ideas and prove
their points by using
statistics, numbers and
charts so people
believe they are right
and vote for him/her.
Snob appeal/Endorsement

This is when well known people
or celebrities recommend people
vote for a candidate hoping voters
will do the same because they are.
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The “Oprah effect” has been
credited with boosting the
popularity and appeal of the
person, product or group Oprah
endorsed on her show or
magazine.
Testimonial

This is when a candidate
or another person tells
voters personal stories
about himself/herself and
how he/she has
succeeded in the past and
is the best candidate. This
can also be used to
personally “testify” how
bad a candidate is by
people who know
him/her.
Types of Political Propaganda
Bandwagon – using language that makes voters feel they should support an issue because “everybody
else is doing it”
Glittering generality – making statements about a candidate that are not very specific but are positive
and meant to get you to like the person even though you don’t know him/her well.
Just Plain Folks – Telling voters that a candidate is a regular person “just like them.”
Name-calling – Attaching negative labels to a candidate’s opponent so voters do not like him/her.
Stack Cards/Card Stacking – Using only selected facts that support a candidate’s candidacy or
opposes his competitor’s candidacy but might also leave out key facts.
Emotional appeal-a candidate’s attempt to make you feel bad, scared, worried, sorry, happy or guilty
about something.
Scientific approach-The use of research, statistics or studies to prove how/why a candidate is
good/bad.
Snob appeal/Endorsement-The use of celebrities such as movie stars to make a candidate seem
more appealing because well known people support him/her.
Testimonial-The use of people who know the candidate very well to describe what the person stands
for and capable of if elected. This can also include a person giving a testimonial about himself.
Assignment: Create your own piece of political
campaign propaganda.
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You will now apply what you have learned about political campaign
propaganda.
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Select one (1) of the nine types of political campaign propaganda
techniques you just learned.
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Based on the type you select you must create a campaign ad
(advertisement) that will convince people to do one of the following:
(a) vote for someone or (b) stop a dangerous or harmful
behavior/habit (smoking, illegal drug use, drunk driving, etc.). Your
ad can be audio, video, or print [no profanity, nudity or vulgarity].
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Your language must be specific, convincing, and detailed.