Jacques Ellul, in "Propaganda : The Formation of Men's Attitudes", defines it as such :
Propaganda is a set of methods employed by an organized group that wants to bring about the active or passive participation in its actions of a mass of individuals, psychologically unified through psychological manipulation and incorporated in an organization.
However, unlike Ellul, I do not share the position that propaganda can be used for good purposes. If propaganda is to use psychological manipulation, then it is attempting to control people's thoughts. And to control is to lie.
Let's not be fooled. People cannot be brainwashed without their consent, at some level. Propaganda to which people resist, is not good propaganda. It's meant, by its finely-tuned, slick message, to fulfill a need.
When the government tells you to "say no to drugs", for instance, they know that most people are receptive to the idea that drugs are socially harmful. All they are doing is extending and reinforcing already-accepted memes. When propaganda presents a new or unpopular idea, it has to present it in ways that are already-accepted.
The Nazis were masters at propaganda. Hitler went from a down-on-his-luck soldier to national messiah in a matter of years. The secret of their propaganda machine, in an era where marketing was not as finely-tuned as it is today, was to consider "the masses" as controlled by diffused psychological and emotional currents. One who was attuned to these currents could control the masses.
Few people are able to bring heart and mind into full agreement. Propaganda often has particular importance in that it speaks to the emotions rather than to pure understanding. The individual as well as the masses are subject to "attitudes"; their emotions determine their condition.The politician may not coldly ignore these emotions; he must recognize and understand them if he is to choose the proper of propaganda to reach his goals. (...) The essential task of propaganda is to use psychological skill to create a favorable atmosphere. As Schopenhauer says: "When the heart resists, the mind will not accept."
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