Intergovernmental Relations

Description

This course, the second of the 1st Year Tribal Concentration Courses, is designed to address the field of intergovernmental relations from the perspective of tribal nations.  Different levels of government including tribe-to-tribe, state and local to tribe, tribe to the federal government and its various agencies and tribe to international bodies and other indigenous peoples comprise the governmental relationships that the course seeks to explore. Readings, lectures and assignments cover the historical, legal, theoretical and practical aspects of intergovernmental relations using the framework of the three major functions of government: regulatory, fiscal/taxation and service provisions. Particular focus will be on development of governmental agreements rather than litigation between tribes and states and between tribes and local governments. We will discuss efforts to coordinate "Indian" policy within the executive branch, the development of government-to-government consultation processes for tribal governments within different agencies and the role of intergovernmental agreement-making-processes by different federal agencies.

We will also explore state-tribal relations with states and local governments with a focus on assessing the impacts, benefits and limitations of different types of intergovernmental agreements. Students will explore models for agreements in areas such as co-management of fisheries, land use/zoning, land management, law enforcement, tobacco tax/gaming, and social service provision.  Class activities will provide an insight into the skills and capacities needed to negotiate and assess various agreements and the special requirements and legal parameters of specific types of agreements.