How does the government achieve psychological power?

The government achieves psychological power by convincing people that they are dependent on it. Other ways of gaining psychological power appear by being a defender of something.

For example, politicians often use hot button issues such as gay marriage or abortion to rally against it and appear as a defender of family values.

Ways to gain this psychological power include using various forms of media to convince the public of the importance of particular issues, and to guide them to the appropriate conclusions. An example includes the urgency of the need to go to war with Iraq.