Conclusion

This chapter concludes by reflecting on the questions this book has left unanswered and by pointing at avenues for future research. It begins by discussing research showing that constitutional design choices of American Indian Tribal Constitutions have had profound impact on long-term economic outcomes. Specifically, tribes that adopted constitutions that provided for the indirect elections of executives have higher income per capita and greater participation in the labor force decades later. This suggests that constitutions can matter. So although our research has found that the adoption of constitutional rights may have limited impact on the protection of rights, future research should look for the effects of constitutional design choices in other ways. This chapter also highlights some more specific lessons for human rights advocacy that flow from our case studies.