How can propaganda influence public opinion?

Answer 1

Propaganda is a form of communicative persuasion (rhetoric) meant to influence an individual for or against a cause, belief, position, or ideal. Many times, it includes misinformation and uses deceptive tactics; especially in politics and religion, propaganda tends to be one-sided or biased in some way.

It influences people through the [subtle] usage of numerous logical fallacies, including (but not limited to): emotional appeal; authoritative appeal; false causality; ad hominem; straw man; ambiguity and equivocation; bandwagon; loaded question; genetic; false dichotomy; appeal to purity; and the "Texas sharpshooter."

Refer to the related links for more information on propaganda and logical fallacies.

Answer 2

World War II was one of the most monumental events in history and certainly one of the most significant events in the 20th century. The catalyst for drawing the United States fully into the war was the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The series of confrontational events that led up to Pearl Harbor and the events that followed up until the Japanese surrender in 1945, were waged on the political, economic, and military fronts, but one aspect of the war which is sometimes overlooked is the war waged on the social front. What makes the social aspect of war so significant is that it involves a dynamic within the human person. In time of war, there is killing, violence, and hate, all stirred up from within. Thoughts and emotions come into play. Ideologies and philosophies, ways of life, and cultures clash. War is no longer only between soldiers on a battlefield but between nations and their ideas. And in order to make a whole nation of people support the war with mind and spirit, there needs to be influence. That influence is propaganda.