Propaganda

Introduction & Top Questions
Propaganda and related concepts
- Connotations of the term propaganda
- Related terms
- Signs, symbols, and media used in contemporary propaganda
Evolution of the theory of propaganda
- Early commentators and theories
- Modern research and the evolution of current theories
The components of propaganda
- Goals
- Present and expected conditions in the world social system
- Present and expected conditions in subsystems
- Propagandists and their agents
- Selection and presentation of symbols
- Media of propaganda
- The reactors (audiences)
- Measurement of the effects of propaganda
- Countermeasures by opponents
- Measures against countermeasures
Social control of propaganda
- Democratic control of propaganda
- Authoritarian control of propaganda
- World-level control of propaganda

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Know about fake news propaganda and how to sort fake news from the real

propaganda promoting the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (GEACPS)

The 1936 Berlin Olympics and Nazi propaganda

Analyzing Joseph Goebbels's total war speech in Nazi Germany

How Did Joseph Goebbels's Use of Propaganda and Terror Aid Adolf Hitler's Campaign for Chancellor?

At a Glance

propaganda summary

Related Questions

How can an atomic test be used as propaganda of the deed?
How can communication overload affect people’s attention to news and messages?
How can economic pressure or coercion reinforce propaganda aimed at neutral or opposing audiences?
How can families and other small groups serve as channels for propaganda?
How can front organizations hide the people behind a propaganda campaign?
How can propagandists use group leaders as social relays for messages?
How can television and the Internet combine images, music, words, and gestures to influence audiences?
How did Lenin distinguish propaganda from agitation?
How did Nazis interpret the swastika differently from some Asian and North American peoples?
How did World War II and the Cold War expand propaganda research?
How did consumer surveys become similar to public opinion surveys in the 1930s?
How do controlled experiments measure the effects of propaganda messages?
How do democratic societies try to control deceptive propaganda without ending free speech?
How do opinion surveys help propagandists study intended audiences?
How do reference groups make propaganda more persuasive?
How does propaganda of the deed try to influence people through actions rather than words?
How does selective recall affect which propaganda messages people remember?
How is psychological warfare used to weaken an enemy’s morale during war?
What are sleeper effects in propaganda research?
What did Harold D. Lasswell examine in Propaganda Technique in the World War?
What did Sun Tzu mean by saying that warfare is based on deception?
What is selective attention in the study of propaganda?
What is the difference between overt propaganda and covert propaganda?
What limits can make propaganda disclosure laws less effective?
What propaganda methods did Kautilya recommend for weakening an enemy?
Which forms of media can be used to spread propaganda?
Why are people who already agree with a message usually easier to influence through propaganda?
Why can expensive advertising make it harder for smaller political candidates to compete?
Why can the same symbol have different meanings for different groups of people?
Why do people often pay most attention to media sources that support their existing beliefs?
Why do political campaigns use different messages for groups with different cultural backgrounds?
Why do some countries require political advertisements to identify their sponsors?
Why have some democracies considered limits on campaign advertising spending?
Why might a church, trade union, or sports fan group influence people more than mass media?
Why might propagandists use trusted agents instead of speaking directly to an audience?
Why was Sigmund Freud’s Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego important to propaganda studies?
When did science begin?
Where was science invented?

Society & Social Issues Sociology & Society

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External Websites

ABC listen - Nightlife - What does propaganda look like in the age of AI?
American Historical Association - What is Propaganda?
Open Library Publishing Platform - A field guide to Bullshit (Studying the language of public manipulation) - What is Propaganda?
Workforce LibreTexts - Propaganda techniques
NPR - What Makes Propaganda Effective?
DigitalCommons at URI - Digital Literacy and Propaganda (PDF)
National Center for Biotechnology Information - Pubmed Central - Authority matters: propaganda and the coevolution of behaviour and attitudes
Verywell Mind - How Does Propaganda Work?
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - What is Propaganda?

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

propaganda - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Propaganda

sociology

Written by

Bruce Lannes Smith

Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing. Coauthor of Propaganda, Communication and Public Opinion.

Bruce Lannes Smith

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 4, 2026 •History

Propaganda, dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumours, half-truths, or lies—to influence public opinion. It is often conveyed through mass media. Propaganda is the more or less systematic effort to manipulate other people’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions by means of symbols (words, gestures, banners, monuments, music, clothing, insignia, hairstyles, designs on coins and postage stamps, and so forth). Deliberateness and a relatively heavy emphasis on manipulation distinguish propaganda from casual conversation or the free and easy exchange...

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