George W. Norris\u27s Persuasion in the Campaign for the Unicameral Legislature

The people of forty-seven states in this country are governed by bicameral or two-house legislatures. The people of the forty-eighth, Nebraskans, are governed by a unicameral or one-house legislature. On November 6, 1934, the people of Nebraska provided by amendment to their state constitution, a one-house legislature to be composed of between thirty and fifty members to be elected on a non-partisan ballot. The number of solons was later set at forty-three, and 1957 marked the twentieth anniversary of the first unicameral session in Nebraska. Senator George W. Norris is generally regarded by all as the father of the unicameral legislature and he is generally given credit for slnglehandedly inducing the people of Nebraska to adopt the unicameral. The aged senator took to the stump in the fall of 1934, speaking in all parts of the state in support of the amendment. By what means did Senator George W. Norris persuade the people of Nebraska to adopt the unicameral legislature? From the perspective of public address, the present study is confined to Norris\u27s speaking, although he did circulate much printed material during the campaign. Since Norris spoke extemporaneously during the campaign, there are no manuscripts to analyze. Therefore, the methods were both historical and critical in that the only available materials on the speeches are in the state\u27s newspapers of the period. The accounts are fragmentary, the speeches were many, therefore a composite of his persuasive appeals was formed. The composite appeals were analyzed in terms of the classical tripartite division of proof: logical, emotional, and ethical appeals. The senator\u27s speeches and their sources are critiqued, as well. Many of the newspaper accounts were poorly written, and often biased. Included are the history of the movement in Nebraska, as well as the public opinion toward the amendment in 1934, Norris\u27s itinerary, each speech situation, and the results of the campaign. Advisor: Dr. Leroy T. Laas

George W. Norris\u27s Persuasion in the Campaign for the Unicameral Legislature

The people of forty-seven states in this country are governed by bicameral or two-house legislatures. The people of the forty-eighth, Nebraskans, are governed by a unicameral or one-house legislature. On November 6, 1934, the people of Nebraska provided by amendment to their state constitution, a one-house legislature to be composed of between thirty and fifty members to be elected on a non-partisan ballot. The number of solons was later set at forty-three, and 1957 marked the twentieth anniversary of the first unicameral session in Nebraska. Senator George W. Norris is generally regarded by all as the father of the unicameral legislature and he is generally given credit for slnglehandedly inducing the people of Nebraska to adopt the unicameral. The aged senator took to the stump in the fall of 1934, speaking in all parts of the state in support of the amendment. By what means did Senator George W. Norris persuade the people of Nebraska to adopt the unicameral legislature? From the perspective of public address, the present study is confined to Norris\u27s speaking, although he did circulate much printed material during the campaign. Since Norris spoke extemporaneously during the campaign, there are no manuscripts to analyze. Therefore, the methods were both historical and critical in that the only available materials on the speeches are in the state\u27s newspapers of the period. The accounts are fragmentary, the speeches were many, therefore a composite of his persuasive appeals was formed. The composite appeals were analyzed in terms of the classical tripartite division of proof: logical, emotional, and ethical appeals. The senator\u27s speeches and their sources are critiqued, as well. Many of the newspaper accounts were poorly written, and often biased. Included are the history of the movement in Nebraska, as well as the public opinion toward the amendment in 1934, Norris\u27s itinerary, each speech situation, and the results of the campaign. Advisor: Dr. Leroy T. Laas

Managing Risk and Complexity through Open Communication and Teamwork

Along with increased complexities in work and life in general in the twenty-first century come new and dangerous risks to workers, customers, and the general public. Drawing on decades of experience as a researcher and consultant for a range of organizations and individuals in high-risk domains, the author of this book presents a powerful theory of open communication and teamwork. This unites a range of communication practices and principles that have proven to combat risk and complexity in organizations. The book initially focuses on NASA, an organization that experiences and engages with high complexity and risk daily. As a participant-observer in the Apollo program, the author witnessed pioneering communication practices that, for example, empowered engineers with “automatic responsibility” for any technical problem they perceived. It was partly the failure to follow such protocols that resulted in the catastrophes experienced in the Challenger and Columbia tragedies, as the author shows. Using the lessons learned from the space program, the book then explores complexity and risk in medicine, aviation, the fighting of forest fires, and homelessness, again consistently finding communication practices that worked and did not work. Based on detailed research conducted over several decades, the book presents a unified theory linked to generally applicable communication practices. Case studies include the results of an international experiment of surgery conducted in ten countries that produced a highly significant reduction of deaths and infections in Africa, India, and other parts of the world, to the creation of innovative communication practices that significantly reduced risks in the US aviation industry.https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/purduepress_ebooks/1033/thumbnail.jp