POLS 073. Disinformation, Propaganda, and Election Interference (IR)

“We have interfered, we are interfering, and we will continue to interfere.” Evgeny Prigozhin’s boast, made just before the 2022 US midterm elections, was not fake news. His Internet Research Agency posted in support of Trump’s candidacy and Brexit back in 2016. Russian disinformation spread in 2018, 2020, and 2022, playing up divisions over COVID-19. Increasingly foiled online, Russia opted for simplicity in 2024 by sending bomb threats to battleground voting centers. Russian subversion hearkens back to Soviet Active Measures, but they are not alone: recently, China, the US, the UK, and ISIS have all deployed propaganda to support their agendas. As tension rises, subversion is only likely to become more common. Should we be worried? Are propaganda and election interference ever effective? How do autocracies use propaganda to enshrine their rule at home and project power abroad? Are democracies at a disadvantage here, or are they better propagandists? Is “disinformation” a new challenge for a digital age, or has it come up before? Everyone claims to know propaganda when they see it, but what is it, and how do we combat it? Has propaganda always been a pejorative term? Are we in a post-Truth society? Are you immune to propaganda? Drawing on history, theory, posters (on walls and online), and contemporary events, this class explores the evolution of subversion and propaganda. Topics covered include: Subversive statecraft, propaganda, mis-, dis-, and malinformation, the role of the media, social media vs. legacy media, freedom of speech, advertising, trust and post-truth, conspiracy theories, election interference, soft and sharp power, democracy, authoritarianism, the internet, and how we might protect ourselves.
Social sciences.
1 credit.
Fall 2024. Casey.
Spring 2026. Casey.
Catalog chapter: Political Science
Department website: swarthmore.edu/political-science

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