Essay Example on Propaganda: Persuasion and False Information for Positive Perception

Introduction

Socialists define propaganda as the dissemination of persuasive information that has no truthful intentions. Miller and Dinan (2008) would define propaganda as the unity of purposeful communication and action as a better term than spin or span. In many cases, propaganda is used negatively to refer to the spreading of false information that ensures a person is shamed while the source is viewed positively. For instance, persuasive political campaigns are carried out to lash on competitors so that the campaigner wins the election. False information is spread to defame one participant at the mercy of another. Other relevant examples are advertisements meant to promote one product at the expense of another, political commercials and signs.

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Social movements are the mirror of the prevailing political situation in a state. Civic campaigns and actions project the political achievements and shortcomings that citizens experience. Thus, people use campaigns to voice what they feel is wrong in society. For instance, the recent movement of #BlackLivesMatter# is an excellent example of the grievances that black people face in the hands of the white. Neutrally, such campaigns appear as propaganda yet guide the studies on social movements. The investigations surrounding such an attack will entail both the grievances of a black man and the brutality among police forces in various countries. As it comes out, one campaign or propaganda may stir other relevant conversations that are necessary for a country’s prosperity.

What is a “structural advantage”? Why is it significant?

Miller and Dinan (2008), in their book “A Century of Spin” define propaganda as the only relevant force that surrounds public relations. In the book, they explain the historical emergence of social movements and the implication of public relations. As a result, based on their definitions, structural advantage involves a distinctive social setup that allows people to live together. Positive or negative propaganda primarily affects the unity of people. Hus, defining the fundamental position, has to match the differences in the advertisement. For instance, propaganda that supports the politics of a single contestant against another may turn out to disunite members of a community. When that occurs, the people start hating one another for reasons of being a supporter or opponent of a political figure. In such cases, it is a structural disadvantage.

The significance of structural advantage in social studies ensures that at the end of the day, people remain in unity irrespective of their political preferences. Also, by understanding structural strength, the surrounding social changes come to light. Thus, structural advantage helps to shape the acceptable behavior in a society, norms, and rules that govern and unite people. Theorists use structural strength as a way of understanding and researching on social categories, organizational analysis, population rates, and crime rates.

What does it mean to “manufacture compliance”? Is consent a necessary feature of compliance? Why or why not?

Manufacturing compliance entails the legal, technical, and corporate requirements, rules, practices, and regulations that manufacturers must adhere to in their operations. The agreement means following specific rules. Whereas manufacturing compliance may limit you only to the said industry, the term is also relevant in other prospects. For instance, in Miller and Dinan’s understanding, to manufacture compliance entails developing a set of rules that help in governing societal operations (Miller& Dinan, 2008). Regarding public relations, governments have established rules and regulations that govern citizens. Such practices are found in the constitution and dictate what people can do and what they cannot. It is the attached consequences that scare most people to comply. However, a certain percentage may come out to critic the set rules. When such occurs, defaulters are termed as criminals. Also, there are cases where law enforcers like the police fail to follow the rules and misbehave. For instance, failure to grant an offender hearing in a court of law and instead detaining them is an abuse of human rights. Therefore, compliance, according to Miller and Dinan, cuts across the citizens and the leaders. Since it is such leaders who create the laws or regulations that govern the citizens, it is expected that they should be role models. Whenever they act otherwise, their behavior leads to the said propaganda and social movements.

It is the desire of many rulers of this world to achieve public consent that involves the approval of what they do. However, sometimes, consent is not always necessary, especially when the plan is to achieve political and general compliance. In such cases, it does not make whether the decision-makers or the members of the public agree to the propagated ideas by corporates, organizations, or the government. It is also vital that the public remains calm during such laws and does not oppose them. The failure to object-specific rules is defined as compliance. Thus, it is the aim and effect of much corporate propaganda that is the manufacture of agreement. In the battle for ideas, corporate engagements may involve trying to seek public sentiments and opinions (Miller & Dinan, 2008). Consent is re-engineered to minimum levels to ensure that the people remain compliant. In the exercise of corporate power, both opinions and managed action are vital determinants. It is these two that form the alliances in various corporate fractions. If this is the case, the question of the consent of the governed is examined alongside elite unity to develop the elite of consensus for democratic rights.

What is a “corporate social movement”? What are the three waves of corporate political action? What did each wave achieve?

A Corporate Social Movement refers to a coalition that indulges in a sustainable action that promotes ideas meant to change prevailing business, social, or cultural practices. Such action is taken in collaboration with forces of communication to ensure that the grievances are successfully aired. Elite power is then identified in terms of the network between work and communication. Hence, the relevance of a corporate social movement is determined by both action and interaction. The effect of such changes in ensuring that action is taken against the unsatisfying rules is defined as elite power. Hence, Miller and Dinan continue to illustrate the three waves of corporate political activity that is a result of the corporate social movements.

The Three Waves of Corporate Political Action

In the revelation of Miller and Dinan, the current challenges in the free market system that includes catastrophes, war, poverty, and diminishing democracy are products of business interests, and political actions lobbied in the past century. The first wave is corporate political activism, which is dated back to 1920 before the modern democratic era came into existence. The activists came forth to the threats that democracy posed. The republican danger of this time was that the corporations and members of the upper social class held power that would be retracted in the era of universal suffrage. As a result, independent organizations started working to defend their privileges. It was the first activism that lasted between 1916 and 1926 (Miller & Dinan, 2008). Propaganda associations also emerged during this period in the UK and the U.S. The threat for a revolution, was first seen in 1919 in both the US and the UK (Miller & Dinan, 2008). Years later, the UK faced another Genera Strike in 1926, marking the end of the first wave of political activism in the pre-war times (Miller &Dinan, 2008). The threat was acted on and defeated by political activists.

The second wave arose after the Wall Street Crash. The period is also remembered following the rise of the New Deal in the US. It lasted way after the 1939-1945 First World War (Miller & Dinan, 2008). It was a kind of class warfare that had a significant impact. During this wave, there was an increase in structured class-wide political activism and corporate elite’s propaganda. The tide began in the early 1940s in the UK (Miller & Dinan, 2008). An upcoming Labour government set for the after-war period threated reforms in the business industry. Unlike the successful US corporates in defense, UK activists only managed to protect themselves from a few of the improvements stated by the incoming government.

The battle of ideas led to the rise of the thirds wave of business activism (Miller &Dinan, 2008). The surge lasted between 1968 and 1980 and was the longest of the three streams (Miler & Dinan, 2008). The third wave was successful for corporate activists. For instance, the successful election of Thatcher and Reagan in 1979 and 1980 is part of the third wave’s success (Miller & Dinan, 2008). The wholesale neoliberal revolution is also part of the wave’s success stories that saw the approval for transfer of publicly-owned resources into private ownership by the corporate owners who were of the upper class. AS the corporate owners celebrated these winnings, the public was mourning. The result of the three waves has been a widening gap between the poor and the rich (Miller & Dinan, 2008). The inequalities have widened over the years when the causes would have mitigated at the time of birth.

Do you think corporate PR is compatible with functioning democratic societies? Why or why not?

Corporate public relations can be defined as the use of social media to market company products. No company publishes information on the negative impacts of its products. All information is positive, and it gets you thinking about how healthy a company’s products are. However, it takes the same social media and the communications industry to warn about excessive sugar, fats, alcohol, among others. It takes individual health activists to coach on weight loss of healthy living and the disease posed by the consumption of junk food. Standard PR companies include Nestle, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, British American Tobacco, and Exxon, among others (Miller & Dinan, 2008). Most of these companies are privately owned, and owners are not ready to make losses based on advertisements that target healthy living. Consultants are approached to promote ideas of these corporations rather than what is suitable for the end-users. Nonetheless, it takes critical thinking to understand that there is more to Corporate PR than the stage fame of the corporate image. Thus, there are political manipulations in what corporates advertise to the public.

In functioning societies, corporate PR seems compatible. It does not matter the risks that it poses to ordinary citizens. All that matters are the profitability that corporates achieve and compliance with government rules. One of the reasons why Corporate PR works in today’s societies is because of political influences (Miller & Dinan, 2008). For instance, companies are the engines of a country’s economy. They contribute by a large percentage to any country’s Gross Domestic Product. Thus, it takes control of the government to stimulate development. World leaders impose taxes on company products and income taxes on workers.

Since industrialization is the highest employer in any country, no country can survive in the absence of companies. Thus, despite the health risks that most companies pose to consumers, the corporates remain in existence due to the underlying political forces. For instance, some leaders have shares in these companies or own them.