Panama – Haiti

 We have noted that there was a substantial difference in the public opinion increase in support for Bush (when he sent troops to Panama) compared to Clinton (when he sent troops to Haiti). Paper involves comparing and contrasting the Government’s handling of U.S. intervention into Panama and Haiti and the impact of the television news coverage of these invasions on the respective President’s (Bush and Clinton) popularity. Refer to any assigned readings and topics we have discussed that are relevant to this question, such as the “Rally ’round the flag” effect, Bennett’s book, and the Edelman reading. In your answer, you should consider the following questions: (1) What are the public opinion differences in support for the Haiti and Panama invasions? (2) What is the “Rally” effect? What are the essential elements needed to produce the Rally effect? How were these conditions met or not met in Haiti and Panama? What are the limitations on the Rally effect? How are they relevant in analyzing Panama/Haiti? What role did the mass media play in the Rally effect? (3) You have already considered what are the cognitions that Edelman says governments try to generate. What cognitions did Bush and Clinton try to generate for Panama and Haiti respectively? How successful or unsuccessful were Clinton and Bush in generating these cognitions in Haiti and Panama? (4)What role did the media play in the cognition-generation process? What elements of content that Bennett identifies are relevant here? How was it different in Haiti and Panama? You need to include analyses of specific news stories to provide examples of the content you identify. Length: 3-4 double-spaced pages.