PROPAGANDA I SVENSK POLITIK En deskriptiv studie av svenska partiers retorik

Sammanfattning: Freedom of expression can be viewed as the very heart of democracy, without it the democratic system falls apart. Political communication is a form of expression and perhaps the most important form as well. The intentions and methods of political communication are not always honest and nuanced though, which may jeopardize the legitimacy of the democratic system. This is because of the demos, the voters and citizens, who represent the core of democracy as a system. The demos often act as receivers of political messages, and very rarely as senders. Consequently, the demos are vulnerable in this aspect. On the other hand, the politicians do have the possibly to angle and manipulate information in order to favour their own intentions. Political propaganda is one kind of political communication that has been present during a long period of time in basically every corner of the world. According to various scientists, political parties often use propaganda in election campaigns to maximise votes. Further on, propaganda can be described as deceitful and manipulative, which are features that do not correspond well with democracy and its ideals. Does that mean that the voters are completely helpless in relation to the political propaganda? With the focus and aim of this study, which is to illuminate the various features and techniques of propaganda, we hope to give the voters further knowledge and understanding about the rhetoric strategies within political manifestos. Because if the voters are not aware of the issue, and does not have the tools to see past the propaganda, how are they supposed to form a well-founded perception and make a choice that they are fully comfortable with? With a certain analytical instrument that contains four dimensions of propaganda, some of the political manifestos that were presented during the election campaign in Sweden 2014 have been examined closely. Further on, regarding the results and conclusions of the study, it supports the assumption that propaganda exists in different ways within the chosen manifestos. All of the dimensions that exist within the analytical instrument can be perceived as found in the material. These dimensions/techniques are simplification, exaggeration, packaging the message and disguise.