Manufacturing Dissent: The Subtle Ways International Propaganda Shapes Our Politics

What impact does state-sponsored propaganda have on political behavior? How impervious is propaganda to strategies designed to combat it? I demonstrate that international propaganda has limited direct influence on mass public opinion, but the perception that propaganda is effective on “others” can have independent effects on democratic norms. I evaluate the conditions under which exposure to propaganda makes people more cynical and conspiratorial, exploring undertheorized opinion outcomes in empirical propaganda research. I show that many of our counter-propaganda initiatives, both defensive and offensive, fail to have their intended effect and may actually backfire.

Author

• Fisher, Aleksandr

Language

• en

Keyword

• Disinformation
• Propaganda
• Russia

Date created

• 2020

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Political Science

Degree

• Ph.D.

Advisor

• Hale, Henry

Committee Member(s)

• Tucker, Joshua
• Hayes, Danny
• Miller, Michael
• Orttung, Robert

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/tt44pn519