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Political Science Homework 2: Wag The Dog

1. Comment

I find the film quite fascinating and full of twists that would makes any viewer remain attentive.

It depicts a political satire, which is eminent in the way the plot resonates well with most typical

government administrations run by selfish leaders who would do anything to protect their image.

From the film, the president is definitely misusing his power granted to him by the citizens and

the constitution by creating fake diplomacy scandals just to deviate the public attention from the

actual issue facing him as a person. Making advances on the underage girl is something

outrageous for a US President because he should be in the first line in the fight against the abuse

of women and children.

2. Question 1

Any important question, I would raise from the film is on the impact of the moral decay

amongst contemporary government leaders as portrayed in the film. Did the president anticipate

the implications of misusing his powers juts to cover for his criminal deed? Typically, I find his

decision to divert the attention of the public from his sex scandal a foolish and selfish move,

which also endangers the country's diplomacy standing in the world. The war hoax makes him

gain ground quickly but he does not understand that this effect is short-lived. He would
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ultimately have to take responsibility for his actions eventually and acting unreasonably to wipe

the reality from the public minds would be an additional burden to his character.

3. Question 2

Another crucial question regarding the film is about the symbolic representation of the

contemporary political leaders by the president and his team. Could the character and actions of

the president in the film symbolize the actual characters of many political leaders who break the

law or even oppress the weak in the society but utilize their positions to evade the rule of law? I

think the same happens quite often. The characters in the film helping the president to evade

justice further justify why these leaders are surrounded by either incompetent assistants and staff

or by suspected and, sometimes, previous offenders. This is evident by the kind of people the

president chose to work with to be in full control of their actions.

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Works Cited

John Parrish, “Producing” Politics in Wag the Dog, 49 Perspectives on Political Science 27

(2000).

Matthew Crain and Anthony Nadler, Political Manipulation and Internet Advertising

Infrastructure Journal of Information Policy, 9 Penn State University Press 370 (2019).

Marc J. Hetherington and Michael Nelson, Anatomy of a Rally Effect: George W. Bush and the

War on Terrorism, 36 Political Science & Politics: American Political Science

Association 37 (2003).

Shanto Iyengar et. al., Experimental Demonstrations of the ‘Not-So-Minimal’ Consequences of

Television News Programs, 76 The American Political Science Review 848 (1982).

Wag The Dog. Dirs. Barry Levinson and Robert De Niro. Perf. Dustin Hoffman and Robert De

Niro. 1997. Web.