Isn’t propaganda just a form of persuasion? What about propaganda separates it from advertising or interpersonal communication?
Edit: Not all propaganda involves lying. For some reason, we seem to be more comfortable with a person lying to us than we are with viewing a propaganda poster that uses verifiable facts.
Edit 2: Another interesting note is that in some countries, propaganda is not viewed negatively like it is in English speaking countries.
I also don’t think it’s like a bright line that propaganda is necessarily the worst form of dishonesty. The subject matter and intent is huge. If a US president runs ads with cherry picked economy data, you could argue that’s propaganda. But that isn’t necessarily worse than say a Pharma exec who pushes through and misleading advertises a potentially harmful drug. The exec could potentially get in trouble for this, but you could easily argue his actions were worse.
The potential harm is generally pretty high when we think of propaganda. And governments willing to participate in more flagrant propaganda are likely going to be willing to participate in other unsavory behavior. And use propaganda to affect it.