Native American reservation constitutions

R. Warren Anderson ()
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R. Warren Anderson: University of Michigan-Dearborn

Constitutional Political Economy, 2016, vol. 27, issue 4, No 2, 377-398

Abstract: Abstract The Cherokees wrote a constitution in 1827; in contrast, the Yokuts tribe on the Santa Rosa Rancheria Reservation adopted theirs in 2014. As Native American tribal constitutions are common, I examine determinants of establishing these written constitutions. During their formation, some reservations had bands of the same tribe forced onto the same land. These reservations of forced coexistence wrote constitutions at an earlier date. More homogeneous, centralized tribes tended to adopt their constitutions at a later date, although this finding is less robust. The implication is that coordination costs were less than the benefits from constraining a potential rival band, and that social norms of centralization made having a written constitution less necessary. Additionally, a positive correlation is found between having a written constitution and economic output, similar to other studies.

Keywords: Constitution; Reservation; Native American (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H10 P48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10602-016-9225-7

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