Can the concept of placebo and placebo effects be transferred to social behavior or to the process of political decision-making, and could such effects have thus influenced the course of history? The article considers the example of dummy tanks used to deceive the enemy during WWII, the false expectations of the Allied forces that led them to believe that Franco’s fascist regime would fall long before it did, and the therapeutic promises offered by messianic leaders of totalitarian regimes.
DOI: doi.org/10.5282/rcc/6166