Indigenous Self-Determination and Accountability: Challenges for Liberal Democracy

The book will address a major, contemporary issue in indigenous politics and liberal democracy found in many nations. Liberal democracies are increasingly recognising the rights and cultures of their indigenous people, yet expect all institutions to be accountable to their stakeholders and for those who receive and expend public monies to be accountable for their actions. This raises issues about the way that divergent indigenous and non-indigenous perceptions and structures of accountability affect the realisation of indigenous self-determination. Cultural differences, as much as socio-economic constraints, impede indigenous societies’ efforts to achieve self-determination in both national and international arenas. Conflicts occur between various combinations of actors that reflect dissonance between indigenous cultural expectations and the bureaucratic accountability processes and expectations of the liberal democratic state. There is a paucity of literature on this issue and a major strength of the volume will be its integration of theoretical and applied perspectives. A range of case studies on indigenous self-determination and accountability in various liberal democratic states will provide a basis for devising options for achieving an effective interface between indigenous cultural expectations/aspirations and liberal democratic expectations. A further strength will be that both cultural and legislative methods for deriving forms of accountability will be examined. All the contributors are international experts within their fields.