Description: The right to vote is the foundation of democratic government; all other policies are derived from it. The history of voting rights in America has been characterized by a gradual expansion of the franchise. American Indians are an important part of that story but have faced a prolonged battle to gain the franchise. One of the most important tools wielded by advocates of minority voting rights has been the Voting Rights Act. This book explains the history and expansion of Indian voting rights, with an emphasis on seventy cases based on the Voting Rights Act and/or the Equal Protection Clause. The authors describe the struggle to obtain Indian citizenship and the basic right to vote, then analyze the cases brought under the Voting Rights Act, including three case studies. The final two chapters assess the political impact of these cases and the role of American Indians in contemporary politics.
Brief description: Daniel McCool is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Utah and the director of the American West Center and the Environmental Studies program at the University of Utah. He is the author, co-author, or editor of six other books, including: Native Waters: Contemporary Indian Water Settlements and the Second Treaty Era (2002); Staking Out the Terrain: Power and Performance Among Natural Resource Agencies, 2nd edition (1996, with Jeanne Clarke); and Contested Landscape: The Politics of Wilderness in Utah and the West (1999). He has appeared as an expert witness in Indian voting rights cases, and has served as a consultant for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Justice Department, and the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy.
Review Quotes: "We owe the authors a great debt of gratitude for gathering this material on VRA legal cases in a form that is usable and digestible for scholars for scholars in a variety of disciplines."
-Joy Porter, University of Wales, The Journal of American History