1. 1 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu The Third Nation - Native American Issues Covering the Border: Issues from the US-Mexico Borderland Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and The Institute for Justice and Journalism, Annenberg School for Communication University of Southern California November 5, 2003 Tucson, Arizona Jonathan Taylor

2. 2 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, at the JFK School of Government, Harvard University –ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied The Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Univerisity of Arizona –udallcenter.arizona.edu/nativenations/index.html HPAEID & NNI

3. 3 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Overview Missions of the HPAIED and NNI Research findings on economic development –Sovereignty –Institutions –Native culture Implications for policy and journalism

4. 4 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Missions: Research and teaching on the causes and consequences of American Indian economic development. Applied research for Indian governments. Executive education. Governance awards program.

5. 5 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu The Research: A Time to be Optimistic? Long legacy of problems and challenges Growing number of success stories Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (Mississippi) Confederated Salish and Kootenai (Montana) Winnebago Tribe (Nebraska) Louden Tribe (Alaska) Why are some tribes successful while others cannot get off the dime?

6. 6 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Two Approaches to Economic Development 1. The Standard Approach: –“We’ve got a problem…poverty.” –Solution: Get Something Going! get businesses started, find a grant, find a program. –Produces familiar results: single-cycles of investment in businesses that fail.

7. 7 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Two Approaches to Economic Development 2. The Nation-Building Approach: –“We’ve got a problem…poverty.” –Solution: create an environment that is conducive to investment of all types. –Views development primarily as a political challenge: sovereign, stable, and capable institutions of government. –Produces outcomes: capital investment, return migration,

8. 8 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Components of Nation-Building 1. Sovereignty 2. Capable Institutions 3. Culture

9. 9 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu 1. (De Facto) Sovereignty Genuine decision making control over the tribe’s affairs. In virtually every case we’ve seen of sustained economic development, the tribe is in the driver’s seat—outsiders cannot get development going. De facto control translates into dollars and cents results and a host of qualitative benefits.

10. 10 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Why “Sovereignty”? Four sovereigns in the US Constitution. “Quasi-sovereign, domestic dependent nations” (the Marshall Trilogy) The “Self-determination Era” –Tribes’ assertion of de facto control –Public Law 93-638 and extensions –Tribal capacity-building

11. 11 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Why does Sovereignty Matter? Who is the self in self-government Property rights Decision-makers and consequences closer together Heterogeneous preferences—cultures Responsiveness to local conditions

12. 12 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu 2. Capable Institutions Stable institutions and policies Fair and effective dispute resolution Separation of politics from business management A bureaucracy that can get things done

13. 13 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Stable Institutions Investors of all kinds avoid instability. Tribes are reforming their institutions: –Staggered terms for elected, regulatory, and judicial officials; –Separation of powers and checks and balances; –Judicial review in times of crisis.

14. 14 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Fair & Effective Dispute Resolution Robust, fair, speedy, and independent judicial systems foster development Court independence has a measurable effect on unemployment. Judicial systems do not have to look like “western courts”

15. 15 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Separation of Politics & Business Management Government ownership of enterprise is a regular feature of economic activity in Indian Country. Enterprises that are formally insulated from politics are four times as likely to be profitable Tribes are building boards and commissions to protect the functioning of enterprise.

16. 16 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu An Effective Bureaucracy Getting things done fairly, predictably, and efficiently Civil service, solid record keeping, independent audits, etc. Hiring and retaining some of best employees available.

17. 17 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu 3. Cultural Match The match between governing institutions and the prevailing norms/attitudes about how authority should be organized and exercised is essential to government functioning. Legitimacy of government is at the core of socioeconomic development. Constitutional and institutional reform is at the core of socioeconomic development.

18. 18 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Why might (political) culture matter? Culture helps principals discipline their agents. Culture can be a check on end-runs around institutions. Culture can be the basis for policy consensus. Culture defines the legitimate application of authority.

19. 19 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Implications for Policy Government-to-government relationship vs. government-to-dependent Dispersion vs. centralization of resources, objectives, & solutions Investments in governing capacity vs. adherence to rules Flexibility in understanding the self in self-government.

20. 20 jonathan_taylor@harvard.edu Implications for Journalism More than the usual investment in stories, because the history, policy, and culture of relevant tribes is important. Cultural assumptions & bias –What culture says about organizing society –What culture says about Indian policy Indians and the melting pot ‘The Indian wars are over’ ‘Surplus’ wealth of Indians ‘We gave the Indians…XYZ’ –Coward, John M., The Newspaper Indian: Native American Identity in the Press, 1820-90.