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Abstract
How does systemic propaganda work in contemporary American democracy? The literature suggests that propaganda in its negative meaning is limited to authoritarian regimes. In democracies, it is the corporate and partisan newsrooms that acts as propaganda mouthpieces. This dissertation challenges this status quo and shifts the focus to the interaction between contemporary democratic governments and the media. This dissertation develops a model of democratic propaganda that accounts for the two- step propaganda process in contemporary democracies: the government (responsible for the original message) and the media (responsible for the final message). The project proposes an innovative eight-fold spectrum of media filtering, ranging from the heaviest to the lightest forms. Using the spectrum as an empirical measurement of democratic propaganda, the project draws a clear line between the president’s and the media’s rhetoric in a case study of the Trump administration’s public campaign against sanctuary cities. Using a combination of content, sentiment, topics, and social network analysis, as well as process tracing, this project comprehensively explains how the Trump administration’s propaganda campaign was affected by the media filter, and what challenges the media filter creates for modern presidents’ communications strategies.