States, American Indian Nations, and Intergovernmental Politics

American Indian nations are sovereign political entities within the United States. They have complex relationships with the federal government and increasingly with state governments. Regulatory conflict between Native nations and states has increased as Native nations have developed their own independent economies and some states have sought to assert their control over reservation territory. This book explores the intergovernmental conflict between Native nations and states, with a focus on the tension over the enforcement of state cigarette taxes for on-reservation sales. Anne F. Boxberger Flaherty asks: when do states and Native nations come to agreement, when do they disagree, and why are states sometimes willing to extend great efforts to assert their taxes on reservations?Flaherty uses a multi-method approach, with a historical review of expanding state involvement on reservations, a quantitative analysis of state enforcement of cigarette taxes on reservations, and a qualitative analysis of several specific case studies, including the potential for intergovernmental conflict over marijuana cultivation and sales on reservations to answer these questions.This book will be interest to scholars and researchers of Indigenous Politics, Native American Indian Politics, State Politics, and Intergovernmental Politics.

'Flaherty has a gift for seeing both tribal and state perspectives. She uses this to provide a broad political analysis for the resolution of tribal versus state and federal taxation controversies. Her broad coverage of recent historical detail and case law, most of which seems not previously to have been integrated into book format, will make this an important primer and reference for people working in policy and legal analysis for tribe-state or federal-to-tribe issues.' - Fritz Laux, Northeastern State University'States, American Indian Nations, and Intergovernmental Politics is an important addition to our understanding of the complex relationship between Native Nations and American States. Its use of taxation as an example of the broader conflict between tribal sovereignty and states’ efforts to exert authority over Indian businesses highlights the struggles faced in a changing political and legal environment. Flaherty’s use of historical, quantitative and case study analysis is especially helpful in providing a fuller picture of contemporary intergovernmental relations.' - Richard C. Witmer, Creighton University

Anne F. Boxberger Flaherty is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Merrimack College.