The Motivation and Role of a Propagandist

T HE role' of a propagandist in a popular social movement varies with the external power structure, that is, with the degree of active or latent resistance in the population to those institutional changes advanced by the movement. However the role is examined-whether from the point of view of the content and style of the propaganda or from that of the prestige of the propagandist in the movement or from that of the way propaganda activities are organized and carried out-its structure reflects the movement's success or failure to realize its objectives, a success or failure measured by the extent to which potential sympathisers accept the movement's ideology, and, indirectly, by the movement's ability to overcome opposition to its program. In order to examine these variations in the propagandist's role, we may distinguish three phases in the development of a social movement. The first, and the one with which we shall be chiefly concerned here, may be called ideational. In this phase propaganda is the major activity. Members of the insurgent social movement must make their program familiar to audiences, must convince their listeners to take action, and must, if necessary, direct them away from competing social movements.2 Every participant in the movement is a propagandist to the degree that he is able for there are few other functions and these depend on the movement's ability to win response. If it fails, it must eventually deteriorate and either cease to carry on or function merely to satisfy the needs of its small and idiosyncratic membership. The content of ideational propaganda tends, by and large, to be abstract and moralistic: abstract, because it must establish a general framework of values before specific measures can be proposed; moralistic, because it must reach the inner springs of motivation and recruit a type of member who is "dedicated" in order to survive short-run failures and the lack of immediate tangible results.3 At a more advanced stage of development (and this presupposes that the movement has increased in size, is more heterogeneous in composition and constitutes some threat to the status quo) the accent is pragmatic with the emphasis on political action. Activities connected with securing positions of power are now more important than propaganda which instead of being the responsibility of all may be delegated to particular persons. Moral absolutes are replaced by flexible principles so that those who hold or who are seeking power are not too rigidly bound in action and so that potential members who have been alienated by idealistic intransigence may be brought in. The final stage, when success is regarded as imminent, is an administrative one. Only a token effort is made to convert non-believers. The major tasks are to stabilize the membership and to prepare for carrying out proposed changes. Regardless of how these phases are designated, it is clear that in each the role of the propagandist differs. And these differences mean that limits are set on the types of personalities attracted to the role, and that the role itself operates selectively, encouraging or discouraging participation. To speak then of the motivation of a propagandist one must consider the structure of the role as it is organized by the social movement, keeping in mind that social movements follow certain lines of development which, in turn, re-structure the role. ' The term "role" in this context refers to the procedures for carrying out specified functions. In this instance, the function is the communication of political ideas. It is used here in the tradition of "situationism" [see Gardner Murphy, Personality (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1947)] rather than in the Mead tradition where "role" refers to a mechanism of social interaction. See George Herbert Mead, Mind, Self antd Society (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1944). 2 "Competing social movements" refers here to movements with different ends soliciting the same audience. It does not include movements wtih the same ends but different means. although such movements may compete with each otner. 3 Movements based on value-free or "scientific" ideologies are not exceptions to this proposition since the psychological pressures of participation in the ideational phase are the same regardless of the explicit symbols of the ideology. Hence, the phenomenon of the "fanatic" or "crusader" who champions rational or scientific causes.