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Ethical Propaganda Strategies

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Ethical Propaganda Strategies
Society wants to inform voters of which candidate to choose. Whatever you were informed of to make you vote for someone, it makes a big impact on society. Every candidate wants the voter to put a check next to their name on that slip. They will achieve their goal by using certain evolved strategies, methods, tactics, or tricks-of-the-trade. Some are more effective than others, and some more ethical. If you were to try and elect a candidate, what would your strategies be? If it my choice to pick three effective, ethical propaganda strategies, they would be stacking the deck, testimonials/endorsements, and glittering generalities.

To start with, stacking the deck is my first strategy. One example used of this tactic, is in 1984, when current President of the United States at the time, Ronald Reagan was running, a narrator in a TV ad: Prouder, Stronger, Better showed his support for Reagan (Doc. B) by leaving out any facts that would work against him and keeping the positive facts to make more people support (Background Essay) Ronald Reagan. The ad ends with the narrator saying “Why would we ever want to return to where we where just four short years ago?” (Doc B). This is an example of stacking the deck. The tactic of stacking the deck is effective and ethical, since it does not
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In 1984, Walter Mondale ran for president with vice president Geraldine Ferraro. During their campaign, some retirees, United Paperworkers, and Asian Americans showed their support for the two. (Doc. A) This is an example of testimonials, because everyday people are showing and announcing their support for the candidates. This propaganda strategy is ethical, since it is not controlled by the candidate and is done by citizens on their own. The method has also been shown to be effective. In 2008, when Colin Powell, a Republican and former Secretary of State endorsed Senator Barack Obama, it was unexpected and shown to be compelling (Background

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