SCHOOL OF COMMMUNICATION

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

CMNS 432-4

Catherine Murray

Public Opinion, Propaganda and Political Communication

“The significant revolution of modern times is not industrial or economic or political, but the revolution taking place in the art of creating consent among the governed. .. Within the life of the new generation now in control of affairs, persuasion has become a self-conscious art and regular organ of popular government. None of us begins to understand the consequences, but it is no daring prophecy to say that the knowledge of how to create consent will alter every political premise.”

Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (1922).

Prerequisites: 75 credit hours, including at least 2 CMNS and/or DIAL upper division courses.

Overview:

Three central themes are addressed in this course. The first explores the relationship between mediated politics and political media. The second explores the paradox of democratic propaganda, and the interaction of political marketing, persuasion and its limits in creating consent. The final problematic addresses how ‘public opinion’ is constructed in hegemonic and critical discourses in modern western democracies. This course is intended to be of interest to students seeking a summative synthesis in their final stage of studies, but assumes no prerequisite except an interest in the small ‘p’ political consequences of communication. Cases of the application of political campaign/communication techniques will be explored in each lecture.

Required Texts:

Justin Lewis, Constructing Public Opinion: How Political Elites do What They Like and Why we Seem to go Along With it. NY: Columbia University Press, 2001.

Brian McNair, An Introduction to Political Communication: Third Edition. London: Routledge, 2003.

Selected articles will be place on Library Reserve.

Grading & Intellectual Honesty:

Participation (short presentations) 25%

Writing Assignments (3 X 25%) 75%

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to the established university-wide practices with respect to levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will also follow Policy T.10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty” and “Academic Discipline” (see the current Calendar, general regulations section).

Outline and Topic Readings:

Mediated Politics:

A.1. Politics in the Age of Mediation

Brian McNair. 2003. “Politics in the age of mediation” in An Introduction to Political Communication. London: Routledge. 1-46.

A.2. The Political Media and Media as Actors

Brian McNair. 2003 ‘ The political media” and “The media as political actors” in An Introduction to Political Communication. London: Routledge. 47-92.

David Morley.1990. “The Construction of Everyday Life: Political Communication and Domestic Media” in New Directions in Political Communication: A Resource Book. David L. Swanson and Dan Nimmo eds., Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 123-146.

A.3. The Political Agent: Effects and Citizen Engagement

Brian McNair. 1995. “The effects of political communication” in An Introduction to Political Communication. London: Routledge. 28-44.

William A. Gamson. 2001. “Promoting Political Engagement” in W. Lance Bennett and Robert M. Entman, eds. 2001. Mediated Politics: Communication in the Future of Democracy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 56-74.

Paul Nesbitt-Larking. 2001”Social Responsibility and Antisocial Irresponsibility: Ethics, Participation, Political Activism and the Media” in Politics, Society and the Media. Toronto. Broadview Press. 371-398.

A.4. Political Advertising Public Relations and Campaign Design

Video: Film: 30 second democracy

Brian McNair. 2003. “Party Political Communication I and II” in An Introduction to Political Communication. London: Routledge.95-162.

Dean Kazoleas. 2004. “ Planning, Implementing and Evaluating the Campaign” . In Communication Theories for Everyday Life. J.R. Baldwin. SD Perry and MA Mofffitt, Boston. Pearson Education Inc. pp. 329-344. *

Kathleen Hall Jamieson and KK Campbell. 2001. “Political versus Product Campaigns and News and Advertising in the Political Campaign” in The Interplay of Influence. 5th ed., Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Pp. 297-348.

A5. Trends in International Political Communication

Brian McNair. 2003. “ Pressure Group Politics and the Oxygen of Publicity” and “ International in An Introduction to Political Communication. London: Routledge. 163-220.

Manufacturing Consent:

B.6. Propaganda and Persuasion

Video: Leni Riefenstahl: Triumph of the Will

Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky.2002. “A Propaganda Model” in Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks. Oxford. Blackwell. 280-317.

Garth Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell.1999. “What is Propaganda and How Does it Differ from Persuasion? And Propaganda Through the Ages” in Propaganda and Persuasion. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. B.7. Decoding Discourses I

Video: Control Room

Paul Nesbitt-Larking. 2001. “Drums and Wires. The Political Deconstruction of Canadian Texts” in Politics, Society and the Media. Toronto. Broadview Press. 249-258.

Paul Chilton and Christina Schaffner. 1997. “Discourse and Politics” in Discourse as Social Interaction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 206-231. Myra McDonald.2003. “Demonizing Islam”, in Exploring Media Discourse. London: Arnold, pp 151-190.

B.8. Contemporary Rhetorical Theory

Video: Frontline: The Jesus Factor

Craig W. Cutbirth.2004. “Classical (Western) Rhetorical Theory” in . In Communication Theories for Everyday Life. J.R. Baldwin. SD Perry and MA Mofffitt, Boston. Pearson Education Inc. pp. 75-89.

J.L. Courtright, Craig W. Cuthbirt, Stephen K. Hunt.2004. “Contemporary Rhetorical Theory” in .Communication Theories for Everyday Life. J.R. Baldwin. SD Perry and MA Mofffitt, Boston. Pearson Education Inc. pp. 90-105.

Mary E. Stuckey, “Presidential Rhetoric in Political Time’, pp. 122-141.

Constructing Public Opinion:

C.9. The Representation of Public Opinion

Justin Lewis. 2001.” Why Numbers Matter, Who’s in and Who’s Out and Suppressing Dissent “ in Constructing Public Opinion. New York. Columbia University Press. 1-76.

C.10. What are Opinions and Where do they Come From?

Justin Lewis. 2001. “Getting the Right Response, What are Opinions and Ideology of Assumptions” in Constructing Public Opinion. New York. Columbia University Press. 77-137.

C.11. Selling Unrepresentative Democracy

Justin Lewis. 2001. “Flickering the Embers, Selling “ in Constructing Public Opinion. New York. Columbia University Press. 138-197.

C.12. Political Communication and The Future of Democracy ( Debate) (& Conclusion)

Justin Lewis. 2001. “ Hegemony and its Discontents “ in Constructing Public Opinion. New York. Columbia University Press. 198-204.

Brian McNair. 2003. “Performance Politics and the Democratic Process ” in An Introduction to Political Communication. London: Routledge.221-227.

Several Recommended Sources:

Noam Chomsky. 2004. Letters from Lexington: Reflections on Propaganda. Boulder: Paradigm Press.

Russell J. Dalton. Citizen Politics: Public Opinion in Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies. N.Y. Chatham House.

Murray Edelman. 1988. Constructing Political Spectacle. Chicago. University of Chicago Press.

Murray Edelman.2001. The Politics of Misinformation. Cambridge University Press.

Jacques Ellul. 1965. Propaganda and the Formation of Men’s Attitudes. New York, Alfred A. Knopf.

William A. Gamson. 1992. Talking Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Susan Herbst. 1998. Reading Public Opinion. Chicago. University of Chicago Press.

Garth Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell. 1992. Propaganda and Persuasion. Newbury Park. CA: Sage.

Doug Kellner. 1992. The Persian Gulf TV War. Boulder. Westview.

Randall, Marlin. 2002. Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion. Toronto: Broadview.

Henry Milner. 2002. Civic Literacy: how Informed Citizens Make Democracy Work. Hanover. Tufts University Press.

Elizabeth Noelle Neumann. 1993. The Spiral of Silence. Chicago. University of Chicago Press.

Pippa Norris. 2000. A virtuous circle: political communications in postindustrial societies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2000.

A/ R Pratkanis and E Aronson. Age of Propaganda: Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion. N.Y. Freeman. 1992.

Terence Qualter. 1962. Propaganda and Psychological Warfare. New York. Random House.

Philip C. Taylor. 2003. Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the Ancient World to Present. 3rd edition. Manchester University Press.