Political Science 5 - Western Political Thought provides an overall perspective of major political movements of history from the rising of Egyptian, Greek and Roman Empires to Fascism and Communism as seen by great political thinkers from Plato, Aristotle, and St. Augustine, Machiavelli, Marx, and Lenin. Students will analyze the most important ideas and theories that have been developed from the time of the ancient Greeks to the present day. Students will learn that the American Founding Fathers designed a viable representative government by first dedicating themselves to careful study of the political philosophy of Europeans, with particular attention given to British political thinkers from the 16th and 17th century. The founding fathers focused primarily on the natural rights of man, which in turn varied according to the individual philosopher studied. Over the course of their study, the founding fathers openly discussed their opinions with one another so as to properly bring forth differing views in order to prudently construct a government that would protect individual liberty, as well as determine what was required of government to protect civil liberties. The class is taught from the perspective of industry professionals with knowledge of how classical and modern political continues to influence American government. Students will learn of multiple career options relating to the field of political science.

1. West Coast American Leadership Academy
Political Science 5 – Western Political Thought
Spring 2016 / Fall 2016 – Power Point 6

2. 1. The Red Scares (1 Through 3)
2. Mitchell Palmer’s “The Case Against The
Reds”
3. William Allen White’s “The Red Scare Is Un-
American”
4. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Accusations of
Disloyalty – Speech”
5. Information Flows Top Down
6. Messages And Manipulation
7. Mirror Myth
Course Lecture Topics

3. First Red Scare (1)
• The first “Red Scare” takes place after the labor strikes and
race riots of 1919. In 1917 the Bolshevik Revolution in
Russia inspired leftists who believed that a “world”
revolution would be possible.
• Formation of the Third International (later dissolved by Stalin
during WWII). In fact, as a result of the success of the
Bolsheviks, some American radicals moved away from the
Socialist Party and became active in the American
Communist Party.

4. First Red Scare (2)
• In 1919, the post office intercepted 40 bombs, and a bomb
exploded in front of the house of Attorney-General A.
Mitchell Palmer.
• This was the beginning of a series of “witch hunts” by the
government against radicals and aliens. Raids were
conducted and many people were deported. In 1920, a
police sweep took 5000 suspects into custody, many without
arrest warrants..Dampened Progressive reforms which grew
out of the grassroots reform movements of the 19th century.

5. Mitchell Palmer’s “The Case
Against The Reds” (1)
• Notice the first phrase (“Like a prairie fire…”) is meant to
underscore the spreading danger that the radicals posed.
This phrase, ironically, was later used in the 1960s to
promote the revolutionary causes of the radicals of the New
Left.
• Rhetoric of Demagogues: {Discourse Analysis}No doubt,
Palmer’s argument is based on the rhetoric of pathos, the
use a language of fear and patriotic emotion.

6. Mitchell Palmer’s “The Case
Against The Reds” (2)
• To the public, the “Reds” are the enemy, whether anarchist,
socialists or communist, and Palmer makes no distinction
among the various radical political philosophies. In fact,
Palmer equates the politics of the left with criminal activity,
“the degenerate factor in society.”
• He establishes his own “facts”: (“the Reds are criminal
aliens”) and by the government fighting the Reds, the
government is fighting crime (“there could be no nice
distinctions drawn between the theoretical ideas of the
radicals and their actual violations of our national laws”).

7. Mitchell Palmer’s “The Case
Against The Reds” (3)
• Notice the choice of words (connotative meanings) and
characterizations he makes: (“clique of outcasts”);
(“organization of thousands of aliens”); (“promises of
lawlessness, of criminal autocracy to Americans”); (“purpose
of communism appears to be a mass formation of the
criminals of the world to overthrow the decencies of private
life”).
• Palmer groups all the radicals together including individuals
he calls “moral perverts” and “hysterical neurasthenic
women.”

8. William Allen White’s “The Red
Scare Is Un-American”
• A liberal response of a progressive reformer attacking
Palmer’s position.
• There is a Constitution and there are certain rights that
permit debate, expression of unpopular ideas, and the
right to politically dissent.

9. Second Red Scare
• The second Red Scare took place after the Second World
War as the Cold War began. America had an enemy: the
Soviet Communists.
• By the end of the 1940s, “loyalty oaths” were becoming
common for people who worked in the government.
• Hysteria arose about the possible presence of spies
working within the U.S. In some cases people’s
reputations and careers were ruined when they were
accused of belonging to or sympathizing with the
Communist Party.

10. Third Red Scare
• During the 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy began a one-
man crusade to root out the “Commies.”
• Senator McCarthy used “name-calling” and “smear tactics”
to attack people who disagreed with him, claiming they
were unpatriotic or worse, agents of foreign governments.
• “McCarthyism” is the term we still use to describe this type
of political attack. We also refer to such political
campaigns to investigate adversaries as “witch-hunts."

11. • Reading this speech accusing individuals of un-American
activities, one becomes aware of the same use of the
rhetoric of pathos that was apparent in Palmer’s 1920
statement about the aliens in our midst.
• The appeal of McCarthy’s attack is to characterize an
individual’s political position as irreligious (“engaged in a
final all-out battle between communistic atheism and
Christianity”) and unpatriotic (describing the greatness of
the nation and promoting America as the great “beacon”).
• McCarthy makes the wild claim that the government is
“thoroughly infested with Communists.”
Senator Joseph McCarthy’s
Accusations Of Disloyalty Speech(1)

12. • McCarthy makes the wild claim that the government is
“thoroughly infested with Communists.”
Senator Joseph McCarthy’s
Accusations Of Disloyalty Speech (2)

13. Cold War Propaganda
Elite manipulation has existed in
our country even prior to the
days of our founding. Masses
are susceptible to manipulation
as they are highly emotional.
Elites utilize symbolism to pull
these emotional heartstrings at
will. Enjoy this 1952 government
sponsored film vilifying
communism.

14. Communism

15. Elitism – How Information Flows
News is first “created” by opinion
elites and then sent to opinion leaders
to help disseminate the information.
Those at the very top of the elite
network decide what information is
deemed as necessary to offer society.
These elites may be news makers
themselves or in charge of large
media corporations. Opinion leaders
may be thought of as journalists,
news anchors, expert pundits or even
celebrities who possess legitimacy
among those in society.

16. Government Manipulation
Governmental elites find it
necessary to manipulate
the masses if doing so
serves a vested interest.
Here is a great example of
how a safety video can
serve as a tool for
manipulating the masses
from childhood. Who does
the monkey represent?

17. Duck And Cover

18. Manipulation & Mirror Myth
News media outlets are able to
“decide what will be decided."
Bias is exhibited throughout the
mainstream press. This is also
true for nontraditional news
sources as everyone is biased in
some way. Many in the news
media stress that they are
nonbiased since they only reflect
reality. Even if the news is
merely reflected or reported, it is
their choice of subjects that
proves their bias. All news is
biased. This is the “Mirror Myth."

19. Manipulation
How can we protect
ourselves against the
threats of germs and toxins?
Cold War America gears up
to fend off threats from
unconventional bioweapons.
This is another example of
how propaganda is utilized
to foster fear within society.

20. Biological Warfare

21. Spheres Of Influence
Spheres consist of individuals who
share a common set of interests and/or
belief systems. Individual participants
are the absolute micro-level of every
sphere. Here are some examples of
spheres: family, work, school, political
parties, and religion. Different spheres
of influence communicate with one
another through the individual who is a
member of those same spheres.
Various societal interactions influence
individual behavior.

22. Cinemocracy
Governmental elites may believe that
their national policies are so concrete
that it is necessary to utilize various
forms of propaganda gage in
propaganda to incite specific
reactions from its citizens. Various
forms of propaganda have been
utilized to drum up mass support to
better assure elite legitimacy.
Cinemocracy, the relationship
between motion pictures and
government is one way governmental
elites sell their agenda.

23. The Ducktators