Unmasking Political Persuasion

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Area: Ethics, History and Social Studies, Logic
Grade Level: High School & Beyond
Topics: commercials, logical fallacies, politics
Estimated Time Necessary: 50-90 minutes

Lesson Plan

Objectives:
Identifying
Students will learn to identify and define common logical fallacies.
Analysing
Students will analyze political campaign commercials for persuasive techniques and fallacious reasoning.
Evaluating Ethics
Students will evaluate the ethical implications of using logical fallacies in political persuasion.
Critical Thinking
Students will develop critical thinking skills to become more informed consumers of political messaging.

Unmasking Political Persuasion: Logical Fallacies in Government Campaigns

Materials Needed

Video clips of political campaign commercials, Logical Fallacies Definitions Handout, Graphic organizer for commercial analysis.

Steps Involved

  • Introduction to Logical Fallacies (15 minutes).
  • Define logical fallacies and their role in argumentation and persuasion.
  • Provide examples of common fallacies such as ad hominem, straw man, false dilemma, and slippery slope.
  • Discuss the impact of logical fallacies on political discourse and decision-making.

Fallacy Breakdown (15 minutes):

Pick segments from these videos to explore different fallacies:

Fallacies:

  • Ad Hominem
  • Appeal to Authority
  • Straw Figure
  • False Dilemma
  • Slippery Slope
  • Red Herring
  • False Cause
  • Hasty Generalization

Discuss real-world examples of each fallacy.

Application to Political Commercials (30–45 minutes):

Show political campaign commercials from different historical elections, including:

  • Ronald Reagan: It’s Morning Again in America (1984)
  • George W. Bush: Wolves (2004)
  • Bill Clinton: Read My Lips (1992)
  • Michael Dukakis: Tank Ride (1988)
  • Lyndon B. Johnson: Daisy (1964)
  • Willie Horton Ad (1988)
  • Kamala Harris: Abortion Ban (2024)
  • Donald Trump: Immigration is Taking Jobs (2024)

Have students identify and categorize the fallacies used in each ad.

Discuss how these tactics shape public opinion and the ethical considerations of their use.

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Resources

This lesson plan was created for PLATO by: Dan Fouts, PLATO Academic Advisory Board.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

If you would like to change or adapt any of PLATO's work for public use, please feel free to contact us for permission at info@plato-philosophy.org.