Stephen Cornell

American Indian Self-Determination: The Political Economy of a Successful Policy

Year

Examines the changing level of congressional support for the federal American Indian policy aimed at promoting self-determination, through self-governance of federally recognized tribes. 

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Topics
Citation

Cornell, Stephen, Joseph P. Kalt. "American Indian Self-Determination: The Political Economy of a Successful Policy." JOPNA Working Paper No. 1. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, Harvard Project for American Indian Economic Development, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2010. 

Sovereignty and Nation-Building: The Development Challenge in Indian Country Today

Producer
American Indian and Culture Journal
Year

The Indian nations of the United States face a rare opportunity. This is not the occasional business opportunity of reservation legend, when some eager investor would arrive at tribal offices with a proposal guaranteed to produce millions of dollars for the tribe--although such investors still appear, promises in hand. Nor is it the niche economic opportunity of gaming, although that has transformed some tribes' situations in important ways. This opportunity is a political and organizational one. It is a chance to rethink, restructure, reorganize--chance not to start a business or exploit an economic niche but to substantially reshape the future. It is the opportunity for nation-building.

Native Nations
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Citation

Cornell, Stephen, Joseph P. Kalt. "Sovereignty and Nation-Building: The Development Challenge in Indian Country Today." Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs No. 2003-03. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2003. JOPNA.

Alaska Native Self-Government and Service Delivery: What Works?

Year

The Native peoples of Alaska have governed themselves for far longer than either the State of Alaska or the United States. Indeed, their rights of self-government are properly defended as basic human rights that are not unilaterally extinguishable by these other governments. Yet, today an assortment of questions are being raised about key aspects of Alaska Native self-governance.

Among these are questions such as: What form should Native self-government take? What powers should it include? In which communities or groups should those powers be vested? Additional questions are being raised about how the delivery of social services to Alaska Natives is organized. Who should be responsible for service delivery, and what form should service delivery take?

Such questions in many cases represent disingenuous attacks on Native rights of self-rule. They also present direct challenges to the ways that Alaska Natives currently govern themselves and to how services currently are delivered.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Cornell, Stephen, Joseph P. Kalt. "Alaska Native Self-Government and Service Delivery: What Works?" Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2003. JOPNA.

Reloading the Dice: Improving the Chances for Economic Development on American Indian Reservations

Year

The experiences of a wide array of societies around the world amply demonstrate that achieving sustained, self-determined economic development is a complex and difficult task. Certainly this is the case on the Indian reservations of the United States, where numerous obstacles face tribal leaders, managers, and other individuals concerned about the economic well-being of their peoples.

Native Nations
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Citation

Cornell, Stephen, Joseph P. Kalt. "Reloading the Dice: Improving the Chances for Economic Development on American Indian Reservations". Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs No. 2003-02. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Native Nations Insitute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2003. JOPNA.

The Concept of Governance and its Implications for First Nations

Year

What is governance? What is government? What does each do? And what distinguishes good governance - or good government - from bad? Why is the quality of governance important to the success of human societies? And what is the significance and meaning of self-governance? And What does effective self-governance involve and how can self-governing systems be built?

This paper explores these questions and their implications for First Nations, drawing in particular on a large body of research on governance and development among indigenous nations in the United States and Canada. However, the topic of governance is an enormous one, and we can only begin to address those questions here. 

Native Nations
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Topics
Citation

Cornell, Stephen, Catherine Curtis, Miriam Jorgensen. "The Concept of Governance and Its Implications for First Nations". Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs No. 2004-02. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2004. JOPNA.

Two Approaches to Economic Development on American Indian Reservations: One Works, the Other Doesn't

Year

As much of the world knows, American Indian nations are poor. What much of the world doesn't know is that in the last quarter century, a number of these nations have broken away from the prevailing pattern of poverty. They have moved aggressively to take control of their futures and rebuild their nations, rewriting constitutions, reshaping economies, and reinvigorating indigenous community and culture. Today, they are creating sustainable, self-determined economies and building societies that work.

What's the secret of such performance? Is it luck? Is it leadership? Is it education, or having the right resources, or being located in the right place, or picking a winning economic project that provides hundreds of jobs and saves the day? Is it tribal gaming? How can we account for these "breakaway" tribes? Is there an approach to economic development that offers promise throughout Indian Country?

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Citation

Cornell, Stephen, Joseph P. Kalt. "Two Approaches to Economic Development on American Indian Reservations: One Works, the Other Doesn't". Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs No. 2005-02. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2005. JOPNA.

Seizing the Future: Why Some Native Nations Do and Others Don't

Year

Both research and the experience among Native nations daily drive home the conclusion that the so-called "nation-building" approach holds the keys to self-determined social, political, and economic development for indigenous communities. This approach emphasizes the critical role of asserting rights of self-rule and backing up those assertions with governing institutions that are legitimate in the eyes of the people and efficient in their operation. This study examines the question of why is it that some Native nations seize upon the nation building strategy and take effective control of their futures while others do not. We find that foundational change in a community arises when the external and internal conditions a people face interact with their interpretations of their situation, producing a new, shared "story" of what is possible, and how it can be achieved. The keys to changing a community's "story" are found in proactive decisions to alter internal and external situations, acquire concrete knowledge of the feasible, build on the community's cultural assets, and exercise leadership--especially in educating the people in a new vision.

Native Nations
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Citation

Cornell, Stephen, Miriam Jorgensen, Joseph P. Kalt, Katherine A. Spilde. "Seizing the Future: Why Some Native Nations Do and Others Don't." Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs No. 2005-01. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2005. JOPNA.

What Makes First Nations Enterprises Successful? Lessons from the Harvard Project

Year

Some enterprises owned and operated by Native nations do well, and others don't. Of course this is true of all businesses--some succeed and others fail--and there are numerous reasons why. After all, building a successful business is a complex and challenging task. But in these and many other cases, the actions of Native nations themselves had an impact on enterprise failure or success. This chapter examines some of the ways that Native nations can either undermine or strengthen their own enterprises and their own futures. 

Native Nations
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Citation

Cornell, Stephen. "What Makes First Nations Enterprises Successful? Lessons from the Harvard Project." Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs No. 2006-01. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, The University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 2006. JOPNA.

The Nature and Components of Economic Development in Indian Country

Year

Defines what economic development means and how it applies in Indian Country; looks at the changing patterns of Indian Country economic development; debunks some of the myths and misconceptions about economic development in Native nations; suggests policy options for both Indigenous nations and the federal government; and calls for better ways to measure socioeconomic change in Indigenous communities.

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Citation

Cornell, Stephen, Miriam Jorgensen. "The Nature and Components of Economic Development in Indian Country." National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center. National Native American Economic Summit. Phoenix, Arizona. May 15, 2007. Report.

Rights, Governance, and the BC Treaty Process

Producer
BC Treaty Commission
Year

The keynote address given at the BC Treaty Commission Conference for First Nations that discusses the rights, governance and the BC treaty process. Cornell emphasizes the fact that treating making can be more than a process. It can lead to the phenomenal concept of nation building that is sweeping Native nations across the world.

Native Nations
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Topics
Citation

Cornell, Stephen. "Forging Linkages & Finding Solutions." A BC Treaty Commission Conference for First Nations. BC Treaty Commission. Vancouver, British Columbia. October 29-31, 2008. Presentation.