U.S. political leaders must be meritorious to warrant elected office but they also should be average so that they may demonstrate empathy and win the trust of citizens. Rhetoric makes this contradiction work, but no scholarship yet describes it satisfactorily. Worse yet, public opinion now holds politicians in historically low regard. But without a systematic understanding of how elected officials discursively bind themselves to the people, it is impossible to say if or why the rhetorical model of exceptional-ordinary leadership is failing. In this study I describe this rhetoric, which I identify as the Common Style. By listening to politicians' language choices across four speaking situations, I discovered that the Common Styles consists of distinct registers, each appealing to a conventional value, thereby indicating that politicians share something in common with everyday Americans. When speaking to a national audience under expectations of relative formality, as did presidents when delivering a weekly address, chief executives mostly appealed to the American work ethic through a language of production, and in this way presented themselves as honorable laborers. When answering a special-interest group's invitation to speak at one their meetings, governors and mayors relied on a language of progress to show themselves to be concerned with improvement, as were the citizens who joined these voluntary associations. On the nationally broadcast television talk show, leaders shared stories of their uncommon experiences and thereby satisfied the universal need to know what others go through and subtly implied that they, like everyone else, were mortal. When leaders were expected to think on their feet in the presence of local constituents--as they must at town-hall meetings--they turned to a conventional language of deference to indicate their esteem for voters and a mutual desire for respect. I conclude that U.S. politicians seek to build relations with citizens based on the presumption of shared values, but the resonance of these ideals in a fractured society remains uncertain. Future studies must therefore investigate the effectiveness of the Common Style with different swaths of ever-changing Americans. / text

This study explores the varied Citizen Potawatomi responses to federal assimilation and land policies from 1861 to 1891. The professed intention for these laws and treaties was to acculturate Native Americans into American society, but there was a clear ulterior motive to drastically reduce the land base of tribes in the West. The outcomes of policies that arranged for allotment and citizenship were mixed. The federal government successfully dispossessed the Citizen Potawatomi of large quantities of land and virtually every tribal member became a U.S. citizen, but few individuals became successful farmers or businessmen. The government's efforts also unintentionally resulted in fostering a stronger tribal identity and better tribal organization to argue for the collective and individual rights of Citizen Potawatomi tribal members. As the United States became embroiled in a devastating civil war and thousands of Americans flooded west in search of opportunity, the Citizen Potawatomi entered into a treaty agreement to allot their lands and become U.S. citizens. The Citizen Potawatomi treaty of 1861 forced tribal members to abandon the practice of holding land in common by stipulating that they must accept allotments and become U.S. citizens. Unintended consequences of the flaws in the government's plan were the near-complete loss of lands allotted to the Citizen Potawatomi, and a muddying of their legal status. Within a decade a large percentage of tribal members were landless and sought a new home in Indian Territory. By 1872 the Citizen Potawatomi better understood how to use non-Indian methods to fight for favorable allotments and full enfranchisement in the extralegal condition that characterized both their new home and themselves. Two decades later, when the federal government opened thousands of acres of Citizen Potawatomi lands to non-Indian settlement, tribal members had learned a painful, but strengthening lesson. To salvage a distinct tribal identity and political independence, the Citizen Potawatomi took command of their relationship with the federal government by demonstrating knowledge of the legislation that defined their legal rights and manipulating the inconsistent application of those policies. / text

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration