| Since the 1980's, many tribal communities across the country developed tribal gaming facilities that drastically altered their market-state relations, and caused a major impact on tribal and non-tribal society. Research indicates that, historically, tribal communities have rarely participated in the American political and economic structure. This research examines the rise of tribal political power as a result of tribal gaming and the recent propositions placed on both the November 1998 and March 2000 ballots (Proposition 5 - California Indian Self-Reliance Initiative and Proposition 1A - Gambling on Tribal Lands Legislative Constitutional Amendment), and what impact, if any, this rise in political power has had on the American political system. I examine the implicit side of power, in the hope of illuminating this often-neglected feature of power, by examining the rise of tribal power via tribal gaming. This research attempts to examine the following question: How has tribal gaming increased the political development and power of American Indians? In order to address this central question, other questions may be raised. For example, What are the power and politics of tribal gaming? How does sovereignty fit into the politics of tribal gaming in southern, California and how does the federal, tribal and state relationship impact tribal gaming in southern California? I examine these questions by looking at the pluralist and elitist explanations of power and through utilizing an interpretive approach to propose that this may be a more appropriate explanation of tribal power. These three approaches to power will help explain the political development of American Indians. |
