American Association for Public Opinion Research

War Propaganda for Democracy

Author(s): John Perry
Source: The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Autumn, 1942), pp. 437-443
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Association for Public
Opinion Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2744617
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WAR PROPAGANDA FOR DEMOCRACY

By JOHN PERRY, Washington,D.C.
of the Officeof War In- on propaganda
policy.Thesearguments
formation
is primarily
intendedas an have been responsible
forinter-agency
effort
to solvea complicated
tangleof dissension,and for lack of harmony
administrative
problems.Information,withinagencies.
propagandaand censorshipactivities
GOVERNMENT
PROPAGANDA
have been hamperedby jurisdictional
and lackofadequatecoordina- Despite the frequentassertionsby
disputes,
in Congressand by some
tionhas resultedin criticism
by Con- minorities
should
thatthegovernment
gressand thepress.According
to news- newspapers
paperaccounts,
thereorganization
was not engagein propaganda,therewill
promoted
bytheBureauoftheBudget, continueto be plentyof it. No governa democratic
whichassigned
one, can
MiltonEisenhower,
then ment,especially
without
it.Evenin timeofpeace
Land Use Coordinator
of the Depart- operate
to manygovernment
mentofAgriculture,
proto survey
thesitua- it is essential
tionand present
recommendations.
The grams.In timeof war thereis an enorbetweenwhathas to
firstproblemsOWI will have to solve mousdiscrepancy
can
are administrative
difficulties.
The sev- be done and whatthegovernment
eral agenciesmust be fittedtogether,-or is willingto-order done. Scrap
duties reassigned,personnelactivities rubbermust be collected,war bonds
consolidated
and executives
reshuffled.sold, civilian defensevolunteersreThe TydingsCommittee
is demanding cruited,taxesand rationing
programs
economymeasures(reductionin the explainedand thepublicgenerally
pretotalvolumeofgovernment
informationparedforparticipation
and sacrifice
in
outputis widelydemanded).
the war effort.
As long as we prefer
ElmerDavis, newly-appointed
direc- voluntarycooperationto dictatorship
tor,has indicated
thathisfirsttaskwill backedbyan armyofenforcement,
there
be to settlequestions
ofpolicyon release willbe federalpropaganda.
ThosewhohavefearedthatDavis,as
of war newsbythegovernment.
There
wouldplaceall emphasis
hasbeencriticism
on
becausesomeagencies a journalist,
withheld
newswhichothersissued,and "news"land subordinatepropaganda
becausenewsreleasedby severalagen- can findtheiranswerin his regular
cies occasionallyconflicted.
Davis has broadcastof March2. "Thereare permadeit plainthathe wantsto issueall hapssomepeoplein theAdministration
possiblenews consistent
withnational who dislikepropaganda,
at leastif you
call it propaganda,but the enemyis
security.
Thereis as yetno indication
of any usingit veryeffectively.
To refuseto
basicdecisionson thefuturecourseof useit againsthimmakesaboutas much
governmentpropaganda.They will senseas refusing
to shootat theenemy
have to be made soon,for OWI has forfearyoumighthurthim.... This
a numberof bitterargumentscountry
inherited
wouldneverhavewon itsfreeEsTABLISHMENT

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PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY, FALL

438

dom if Sam Adams and PatrickHenry

and Benjamin Franklin had not used
propaganda;we wouldn'thave theConstitutionif Alexander Hamilton and
JamesMadison had not writtenin the
Federalistsome of the best propaganda
ever turned out in this or any other
country."
There will continueto be utilitarian
propaganda,in orderto implementspecific governmentprograms which require public cooperation. Davis indicates clearly that we will continue to
use propagandaas a weapon againstthe
enemy.It is almostas certainthatthere
will be some kind of "morale" propaganda forhome consumption,especially
when presentstocksof consumergoods
vanish and the casualtylists grow.
METHODS

OF PROPAGANDA

There hasn'tbeen much debateon the

purposes and methods of utilitarian
propaganda,for the objectivesare specificand the techniquesfamiliar.So far
as psychologicalwarfareon the enemy
is concerned,therehas been one major
unsettledquestion: should we tryto encourage organized oppositionin enemy
countriesby preaching democracy,or
should we adopt the Hitler tactic of
showing suspicion, disunity and factional strife? The probable answer,
judging by performanceto date, is
"both."
There have been so many arguments
on "morale" propaganda that it would
require chapters to report them all.
There are disagreementson objectives,
techniques,subject matter,channelsof
distributionand timing. Commercial
publiciststhinkdemocracycan be sold
like soap flakes; the more seriousfavor basic
minded politico-economists
education in democraticprinciplesand

I942

the issuesof the war. Some want to

make frontalattackson the enemy
within,whileotherscontendthatthis
mightlead todisunity.
In all of thesedebatesit is possible
to isolatetwocentralquestions.If they
by the
are broughtto a determination
issueswilltendto setOWI, subsidiary
The firstis the functle themselves.
The secofpropaganda.
tionalobjective
betweenpropaond is the relationship
in thiswar.
ganda and democracy
AXIS

TECHNIQUES

short-wave
offoreign
The transcripts
revealone commondenombroadcasts
inatorforalmostall Nazi and Japanese
Each itemis a neat,
radiopropaganda.
story,full of imagetightly-packaged
easy
words,dramatic,sharply-pointed,
Our enemiesknowthat
to remember.
theirlisteningaudienceis small,and
will givecredence
thatfewAmericans
but neitherof these
to theirassertions,
them.Theyknowthat
factsdiscourages
audienceis theone that
thesecondary
counts,and theydesign theirpropaA lisgandato be putintocirculation.
tenertells his friends,and theytell
theirs,and the storyspreadswith its
Axisoriginforgotten.
campaignsare not new,
WVhispering
firms
as severalof our majorcigarette
A manridingin a crowded
can testify.
andrecogsubwaylowershisnewspaper
nizesa friendacrosstheaisle;theytalk
fora momentaboutpersonalmatters,
raisingtheirvoicesin ordertobe heard.
holdsouthis newspaper,
Then thefirst
to pointto an item:"Did
pretending
you see this? Eight workersin the
foundto have
factory
Blank cigarette
contagiousleprosy.The government's
they
tryingto call in all the cigarettes
handled,but theycan't tracethem."

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WAR PROPAGANDA FOR DEMOCRACY

439

From the subway,the storyspreads ance: theconversations

of peoplewith
like an infectionthroughthe city.Axis- theirfriends
and neighbors.
inspiredstoriesare similarlyplanted,by
Multiplied,the individualconversafromthe
groupdiscussion,
short-waveradio, through news chan- tionbecomes
nels in Lisbon, Stockholmand Madrid cracker
As
barrelto theunionmeeting.
and by paid or volunteeragentsin our a people,we do ourthinking
in groups.
midst. The death-shiprumor,Japanese We are an organizedpeople,tied tointerversions of Pearl Harbor destruction, getherby socialand occupational
anti-British
storiesand othershave had estsin hundreds
of womof thousands
lodges,
wide circulation. Since most of the en's clubs, trade associations,
farmers'organizationsand
work of the Axis is done by innocent sororities,
and in millionsof inbut credulous Americans,counter es- churchsocieties,
of friends
pionage is virtuallyimpossible.
overbeeror
formalmeetings

never
bridge.The expertpropagandist
thinkslooselyof"thepeople,"butrathSome of our governmentpropagan- er of a nationcomposedof innumerHe
and cross-groupings.
dists do not seem to understandthat ablegroupings
a back-fenceconversationhas ten times understands
political,social,racialand
the impact of the impersonal printed economicgeography,
and is familiar
habitsof
word, and that one tightlittlestoryis withthereadingand listening
more convincingthan an argumentative themajorgroups.
GOVERNMENT

PROPAGANDA

essay.A few appear to regardtheAmerKINDS OF PROPAGANDA

ican people as a vast receptiveaudience,
and think they need only set down
Directedat "thepeople,"propaganda
words on paper or speak themover the mustbe generalto thepointof vagueair in order to "mold" public opinion. ness.Addressed
group-interto specific
Their output is abstract,verbose,con- ests,channelled
themanyavailthrough
tentiousand not in the least entertain- able selectivemedia,it can be made
ing. It is not propaganda at all, in fact, intelligible
and pointed.In theDepartbut a jazzed-up varietyof politicaledu- ment of Agriculture,
Milton Eisencation.
howerhelped to developone of the
The American people, to preserve mosteffective
distribution
organizations
hour everbuilt;propaganda
their sanityunder a twenty-four
fromWashingbarrage of demands on theireyes and ton moves throughstate and county
ears, have developed an enormous ca- channels,reachingfarmersthrough
pacity for not paying attention.The countyagents,AAA committees,
rural
most skillfulpropagandistwith unlim- electrification
and otherlocooperatives
ited resourcescan seldom hope to com- cal peopleand groups.Communications
mand a primaryaudience of more than oftheDepartment
cometo farmpeople
a million or two, unless his words are frompersons
whomtheyknow,and in
spokenbythePresident.If he is to reach whom theyhave confidence;
and the
the people as a whole, or a major part communications,
in theprocessoftransof them,he must use the one medium mission,
in termsof local
are translated
which breaks through audience resist- problemsand conditions.
Further,the

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440

PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY, FALL

1942

operationis designedto able. And the dealer himselfis the

Department's
man in thewholeopin the mostimportant
work with equal effectiveness
contact
oppositedirection:theideas and opin- eration,forin his face-to-face
and byvirtueofhis
ions of individualfarmersand farm withhiscustomers,
withthem,he can
personalrelationships
groupstravelbackto Washington.
This kind of propagandademands easily"switch"themfromone brand
havefaithin de- to another.
thatthepropagandist
may finda lessonin
Unprocesses.
Propagandists
mocracyand democratic
hesitate comparing
of brandpreference
surveys
doubtedlysome propagandists
get out of and branduse. Asked what products
to let theircommunications
to they prefer,consumerswill usually
control,and thus limitthemselves
brands,for
media with which theycan deal di- name nationally-advertised
to allowtheirmes- the namesare mostfamiliar.But inTheyhesitate
rectly.
will rerephrased ventories
of theirown pantries
sagestobe handledbyothers,
and then veal that theyoftendo not buy the
and localizedin transmission,
to groupsof peoplefordiscus- brandsthey say theyprefer;at the
offered
sion.In thesameway,and forthesame dealers'counterstheymay buy local
that- brands,chain storebrandsor brands
reasons,theydo notunderstand
with on specialsale.
in democracy-theeffectiveness
whichpeoplecan talkto theirgovern- Generalized,broadcastpropaganda
local
as the simplydoes notproduceeffective
mentis at least as important
communi- action.In thiswar it mayhelpto perofgovernment's
effectiveness
suade consumersthat rationingand
cationsto thepeople.
There is a functionforgeneralized othermeasures
butunless
arenecessary,
propaganda,the propagandaof broad itis backedup byorganizedlocalmeaswhole- uresand communications
on
ideas whichcan be distributed
theeffect
conductwillbe negligible.
sale by networkradio or presssyndi- consumers'
cates.It is useful,just as nationaladknowthatgroup
Able propagandists
procthinking
of discussion
is democracy's
is usefulto manufacturers
vertising
will be
consumergoods.But even thosewho ess, and thattheirarguments
are mostfamiliarwithnationaladver- won onlyinsofaras theyfindeffective
sometimesexpression,
agents,
tising,
theadvertising
in the
and carryconviction,
itslimitations.
failto understand
freeexchangesof opinionamongthe
hundredsof thousandsof formaland
NECESSARY
LOCAL COOPERATION
informalgroupswhichmake up our
mil- society.
whichmanufactured
A company
Enemypropagandais designed
lionsofcakesof soap,and usednational to findits way into thesediscussions,
to tellthepublicaboutthe and it is only therethat it can be
advertising
meritsof thesoap,wouldsellno soap. defeated.
To sell soap you musthave a well-ororganiza- "MORALE ~PROPAGANDA OBJECTIVES
ganizedsalesanddistribution
and
wholesalers
tiontomoveit through
have raged
Some bittercontroversies
jobbersto the retailers'shelves.Local on the objectivesof "morale"propathat ganda, the propagandawhich deals
mustinform
consumers
advertising
theirown dealershave the soap avail- with ideas ratherthan implements

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WAR PROPAGANDA FOR DEMOCRACY

specificaction programs.It is generally
agreed that a long-timewar effortinvolvingsacrificescan be sustainedonly
if people have somethingto fightfor,
something more than the desire for
revenge or fear of defeat. One group
believes that morale can be sustained
by brass bands, parades, rallies and
orations.Anothercontendsthat people
must be educated in the meaning of
democracy.A third suggests that the
theme should be a crusade against
tyranny.There are many otherideas.
So far as generalized propaganda is
concernedit is quite possible that all
of themare right.But if theirthinking
goes no furtherthanpropagandabroadcast to "the people," theyare not going
to contributeto the war effortmuch
more than occasional emotionalfillips.
If "morale" means anythingat all in
wartime,it means the sustained willingness and desire of individuals to
sacrifice,work or fight,a conviction
which has a definiteimpact through
their individual acts.
There is a war spiritin America today, and all of us are aware of a desire
for victory.But those who have come
back fromcountriesin the battle zone
stillaccuse us of complacencyand sloth.
We are stilltolerantof the enemywithin-the appeasers, political opportunists, those who spread distrustof our
allies, the constantcritics.Many of us
stilldrive to ocean beaches in our cars,
thoughwe may see therea tankertorTo be frank,we don't
pedoed off-shore.
yet feel this war in our guts.
BUILDING

DETERMINATION

The propagandistcannot manufacthegrimdetermitureon his typewriter

nation of a people who dig themselves
out of the ruinsof theirbombedhomes.

441

Buthe can havea partin helpingeach

individualin thecountry
to realizehis
own personalstakein the war. To do
so, it is necessary
thathe think,notof
"the people,"but of the individuals
and groupswho are the people.Let
himmeet,to takebutone example,the
man who firesNumber3 furnacein
a Youngstown
steelmill.His name is
Joe.
Joethinksaboutthewar in a practicalway,forhe is a practical
man.Of
hewantsto winit.He's working
-course
hard and steadily,and the moneyis
comingin betterthanit had beenfora
long timebeforethisbusinessstarted.
outstuff
There'ssatisfaction
in turning
to throwat Yamamoto,and he works
a littleharderbecause one of his gang

lastweek.His wife
put on a uniform
complainsaboutprices,and how some
thingsare hard to findat the shops,
butthey've
paidoffsomebillsandmade
some repairs,and war bonds are as
good as a savingsaccount.
Joehas somegrievances
at themill.
His weeklyearningshave gone up,
buthe knowsthatcompany
have
profits
gone up a lot more,and so have the
salariesof the brasshats.He's willing
to make sacrifices
forthewar,but he
sometimes
wondersif he isn'tmaking
themforthebrasshats.The unionhas
agreed not to strike,and the bosses
but
haveagreedtonegotiate
everything,
thenegotiations
seemto takea hellof
a longtime.He can'tquiteunderstand
why Congressdidn't agree with the
President
on limiting
salariesto $25,000
a year.Thereseemsto be quite a lot
of horsingaround,in fact,and quitea
lot of peoplewho aren'tworkingtoo
hardormakingtoomanysacrifices,
and
not verymuch in the way of crackdowns.

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442

PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY, FALL

1942

Joeis surewe'lllicktheJapsand the tionsas thingsget tougherfor them,

Nazis once we get going,but beyond especiallyif the Axis keeps winning
that he hasn't done much thinking fora while.
aboutwhat'sahead.He's talkedabout
WhatabouttheAtlanticCharter,
the
peace with someof the boysover an lend-lease
masteragreements,
theposteveningbeer,and they'reall a little war plansof our own government
and
afraidof it-mill shutting
down,lots thespeechesbypeoplelikeHenryWalof unemployment,
maybeworsethan lace? Those are declarationsof our
1933. But you can't wortyaboutthat nationaland international
war aims.
nowthatthere'sa wartowin.Working Joeread a littleaboutthem,and they
hard,Joe'slost trackof politics,even soundedall right,buttheydidn'tseem
with an electioncomingup, and he to have muchrelationship
to Youngsprobablywon'tvote.He stillpayshis townand Joe.It hasn'toccurred
to Joe
uniondues,but the unionisn'tdoing thatpeoplecan havewaraimstoo.But
muchandhe onlygoestomeetings
once in a democracy,
can nationalwar aims
in a while.
mean verymuch unlesstheyare the
sumtotalof individuals'
war aims?
AFTER THE WAR
How can Joebe toldthatthesewar
The future?Well,Joedoesn'tsethis aimshe'sreadaboutmightmeansomehis home
sightstoo high, but thereare some thingin termsof his family,
ofpromthingshe'd like to have.A littlemore and hisjob? He'd be sceptical
was queerif
in his job, a bit moreeduca- ises and thinksomething
security
tionand promiseforthefutureforhis Congressbegan passingall kinds of
kids-thingslike that. It was pretty legislationto take effectone minute
Propagandaofferbadin '33,andhewouldn'tliketobe on afterthe Armistice.
as payment
forwarWPA again. His towncould do with ingthemillennium
won'tgetveryfar.
a fewthingstoo in thewayof schools timesacrifices
and medicalservice.But he doesn'tsee
BUILDING
THE PEACE
muchrelationship
betweenthesethings
and victory,
exceptthatvictorycould
Perhapsthe answerwill be found
mean a prettynastydepression.He in Joehimself.
He knowshe's an imknowsthatan Axis victory
would be portantpartof thewar effort,
because
buthe is surethatisn'teven he knows what happensto the steel
disastrous,
a remotepossibility.
Americaalways thatcomesout of Number3 furnace.
winswars,and we can outproduce
the Whatif he gottheidea thathe would
world.
be equallyimportant
in buildingthe
Peoplelike Joeare the backboneof peace?Whatifhe beganto realizethat
our war production,
and if he and his therewill have to be a peace effort
as
wifecanbe countedon toseeitthrough big as thewar programitself,
and that
regardless,
therejustisn'tanyneedfor everyone
will be able to join in a promoralepropaganda.Yet theyare not gram of reconversion,
reconstruction
awareof anypersonalstakein thewar, and progress?
and it's possiblethatsomeof theirunIn otherwords,whatif Joeand the
certainties
mightbecomemajor ques- members
of his union,or themembers

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WAR PROPAGANDA FOR DEMOCRACY

443

ofhislodge,begantalkingaboutwhat's
WHAT PROPAGANDA CAN DO
ahead,and makingsomelittleplansof
Can thisbe done bypropaganda?Not
theirown.They'dknowtheneedsand in a fascist state, where
propaganda
theirneighoftheirindustries,
problems
flowsonly fromthe governmentto the
and theirtown,and be ableto
borhoods
people, is backed by force and recogsensiblesetofpostwar
mapouta pretty
nizes no rightof replyor dissent.But
plansand waraims.If theyfoundthat
the purpose of propaganda in a democin Ohio
othergroups,in Youngstown,
racy is not to "mold" public,opinion
andin theUnitedStatesweredoingthe
or to win popular supportfor the preideas,
samething,
andiftheyexchanged
theresultmightbe a gooddeal of ex- determinedprogramsof a selectgroup
of bureaucrats.And so long as people
and enthusiasm.
citement
This is nota proposalfororganized have free access to informationand
that Joe ideas from all sources, and the right
dreaming.It is a suggestion
and his kindcan be mademoreaware to discuss among themselvesand arin the war rive at their own conclusions, such
of theirfullresponsibilities
and in the peace,and of theiroppor- propaganda would not be more than
tunities,
and of theirpoweras citizens partiallyand temporarilysuccessful.
nation.If theycan be
But government
propagandahas been
of a democratic
made moreawareof the factthatthe and can be used to provokeand stimupeace will be what the people make late groupdiscussion.Information,
facts
of it, there'slittledoubt that it will and figures,ideas can be expressedin
theirconviction
thatthewar words or charts or picturesand transstrengthen
willbe wononlyiftheywinit.
mittedthroughthe channelswhich will
Mrs. Rooseveltput it thisway in a ultimatelybring them into the converrecentcolumn:"I hope thatin every sationsof farmers,laborers,housewives
factory
today,and in everyArmycamp, and young people. There have been reyoungpeopleare discussingthe kind peateddemonstrations
since I933 that
ofworldtheyintendto buildwhenthis
such propagandahas greateffectiveness.
war is over."
There is one weapon which the Axis
And that awarenesswould be excan neveruse againstus, a weapon that
in fighting
pressedin war production,
and in defenseof the home has left a recordof power and victory
strength
front.Therewouldbe fewerhoarders, in the historyof nations.It is the enordilettantesmous striking power, willingness to
price-chiselers,
gas-wasters,
and carpers,fewersowersof distrust sacrificeand lasting determinationof
if peoplelike Joebegan freepeople, who are joined togetherby
and disunity,
ratingthemon about the sociallevel the bonds of mutual interestsrather
than by the rule of tyrants.
of a scabor fink.

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