ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a framework for evaluating the political consequences of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). It suggests tentatively what effects one might expect given the history of Indian-white relations, the political characteristics of the United States, and the nature of government and society in Alaska. Self-determination may be defined as the right of a people "to constitute an independent state and determine its own government for itself." The chapter reviews, historically and philosophically, decentralized government in the United States. It offers comments and observations on the effects of the Act based on what we have learned about decentralization. However, ANCSA offers a unique opportunity to study the development of decentralization, its strategy and effects, and the efficacy of direct political involvement. The decentralization of government responsibilities may have the untoward effect of discouraging participation and encouraging local pockets of resistance, reinforced by kinship and ethnic loyalty.
