Politics and Propaganda

In a world of near-boundless suspicion of politics and the media, why do politicians still exploit the familiar techniques of propaganda? And why are we so vulnerable to their inscrutable allure? In Politics and Propaganda Nicholas O'Shaughnessy shows us why propaganda continues to be one of the prime movers of human history.

O'Shaughnessy, renowned author, scholar, and founder of the cutting-edge field of political marketing, explores one of the most-studied but least-understood aspects of civilized society. His comprehensive study of rhetoric, myth, and symbol explains both the evolution of propaganda and its continued success in the modern and post-modern eras. The result is an elegantly argued analysis that draws on a veritable encyclopedia of examples to explain the persistent appeal of disinformation in an age of high media literacy and intense political and social skepticism.

Nicholas Jackson O'Shaughnessy is Professor of Marketing at the University of Keele (UK) and a member of that university's Center for Political Marketing. He is a Fellow of Hughes Hall, Cambridge, and an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. Professor O'Shaughnessy is also the author of numerous well-known books on aspects of political marketing.