Self-Regulation?

This op-ed in the Albuquerque Tribune claims that tribal regulation of casinos is “like Donald Trump regulating the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City.”

Not quite, of course.

Tribes are governments, not individual business owners with profit maximization as their sole goal. Indian gaming is public gaming, more akin to state lotteries than to commercial casinos. And who regulates state lotteries? Why, the states do. Moreover, like states, many tribal governments have institutionalized mechanisms designed to insulate regulatory agencies from political influence by elected officials. And finally – not that this in any way is intended to excuse any tribal improprieties that may occur – there are plenty of local, state, and federal officials who make mistakes, behave in ways that give rise to concerns about their ethical conduct, or simply break the law.

Though couched as a critique of "self regulation," lurking behind inflammatory statements about tribal regulation is a mistrust of tribal governments, a persistent theme we analyze in our book, Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise.