State lobbying registration by native American tribes

Abstract

The forms of political participation utilized by Indian nations have changed dramatically since the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988. The emergence and expansion of Indian gaming since then have provided tribes with an increased motivation to interact on a government-to-government basis with state governments; it has also provided them with the financial resources to do so in myriad new ways. During this period, tribes have increased their presence in state capitals through direct lobbying. In this paper, we study tribes’ decision to lobby state governments. In particular, we are interested in the role of tribal resources and gaming operations in determining which tribes decide to register to lobby state governments. Using Gray and Lowery's data set that list all lobbying registrations in the 50 states from 1997 to 1999 and the year 2007, we find significant variation in lobbying registrations among Indian nations. We model the lobbying registration decision at the tribal and state levels, using data on gaming compacts and amendments, tribal resources and state characteristics.