Propaganda and Democracy

We are surrounded by communication of many kinds whose aim is to persuade rather to convince, to ma- nipulate rather than to reason. Advertising and much public discourse is like this. How should we react to this fact? Perhaps even more importantly: What does this fact mean about modern society? Not all persuasion is re- grettable or to be disapproved. Not all persuasion is propaganda. And perhaps not even all propaganda is neces- sarily bad. This last point was the focus of a controversy between W. E. B. Du Bois, who held that propaganda could be used for good, and Alain Locke, who held that all propaganda corrupts our thinking. My own view is that propaganda can be used for good, but Locke was perfectly right to be worried about it