object is to induce standards of behaviour in conformity
with both the religion of the propagandist and the
political and social society in which he believes.

Secondly, propaganda induces the desired behaviour;
that is to say, the meaning of the word does not include
attempts to influence by means of force or compulsion.
A slave driver is not a propagandist in any ordinary
sense, nor is a member of the secret police who extracts
information from his victim by torture. This is not,
indeed, a distinction which can be drawn with precision.
There is an extensive border area which goes by the
name of 'moral compulsion'--inducing people to do
things utterly contrary to what they want to do by
bullying, by threats, by social pressure, by mere tedious
repetition. Sometimes these methods would be
naturally described as propaganda, sometimes not; but
it is difficult to draw an exact line. When the widow in
the gospel induced the unjust judge 'by her very
importunity' to grant her what she was entitled to she
could without undue violence to language be described
as having gained her point by propaganda. On the
other hand if she had achieved her end by abducting
the judge's child and holding him to ransom we should
regard that as compulsion, rather than propaganda, even
though no physical force was exercised against the
judge himself and the child went willingly with his
kidnapper. Moreover, when threats are used as a means
of influencing behaviour the question whether they
should be classed as propaganda or compulsion might
seem to depend on whether the threats will be carried
out should the person threatened fail to respond in the

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