1. Introduction -- 2. The theoretical debate on size and democracy : from Plato to the present -- 3. Theoretical model and research design : concepts, cases, and methods -- 4. The Republic of San Marino : Antica Terra della Liberta -- 5. The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis : politics or politricks? -- 6. The Republic of Seychelles : En Nouvo Sesel? -- 7. The Republic of Palau : Ngelekel Belau -- 8. Conclusion : the political effects of smallness.
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"Why are small states statistically more likely to have a democratic political system? By addressing this question from a qualitative and comparative methodological angle, this book analyses the effects of a small population size on political competition and participation. By comparing the four microstates of San Marino (Europe), St. Kitts and Nevis (Caribbean), Seychelles (Africa), and Palau (Oceania), it provides fresh and stimulating insight, concluding that the political dynamics of microstates are not as democratic as commonly believed. Instead, it is found in all four cases that smallness results in personalistic politics, dominance of the political executive, patron-client relations between citizens and politicians, and the circumvention of formal political institutions. In addition, the book suggests that the study of formal institutions provides an incomplete image of microstate democracy and that informal characteristics of politics in microstates also need to be explored in order to better explain the influence of smallness on democracy. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of democracy, democratization, regional and decentralization studies and comparative politics"--
The debate about the political effects of scale is one of the oldest in political science; and yet, it only occupies a marginal position in the contemporary discipline. The same can be said of the study of small states, which are still rarely taken seriously as cases for comparative investigation. Given this state of affairs, it is most unfortunate that research on small states and territories is further fragmented by persistent linguistic divisions. For example, most publications on the Lusophone African island states of Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe are written in Portuguese; much of the scholarly work on the French overseas departments is written in French; and most scholarship on the Dutch Caribbean islands is only available in Dutch. Such linguistic divisions limit our opportunities to gain more knowledge about these cases, and also produce an unwelcome split between academic communities that are working on highly similar questions and theories. [excerpt] ; N/A
While it has long been assumed that smaller communities are more prone to particularistic politics, the relationship between state size and clientelism remains strongly undertheorized. Departing from the assumption that face-to-face contacts, overlapping role relations, stronger monitoring mechanisms, and the enhanced power of single votes contribute to the emergence of patron–client linkages, this article provides an in-depth case study of clientelism in Malta, the smallest member state of the European Union. The analysis reveals not only that patron–client linkages are a ubiquitous feature of political life in Malta, but also that the smallness of Malta strongly affects the functioning of clientelism by eliminating the need for brokers and enhancing the power of clients versus patrons. In addition, clientelism is found to be related to several other characteristics of Maltese politics, among which the sharp polarization between parties, extremely high turnout rates, profound executive dominance, and the incidence of corruption scandals.
AbstractThe personalization of politics, the decline of political parties and the weakening of political institutions in large democracies are considered to produce instability and to undermine democratic governance. Yet despite having extremely informal and personalized systems with non-ideological parties, small states around the world maintain significantly higher levels of democracy and regime stability than large ones. This article addresses this paradox by offering a systematic literature review of 167 case study publications on personalization and informal politics in 46 small states. The analysis reveals that personalized relations between political elites translate into either fragmentation or power concentration, while pervasive patron–client linkages structure the interaction between citizens and politicians. Despite the obvious downsides of these dynamics for democratic governance, the small state system is functional in the sense that it fulfils the needs of both citizens and politicians, which explains why small states have succeeded in maintaining their political stability.
The position of small states in international relations is traditionally described in terms of vulnerability and dependence. This dominant perspective is largely incomplete and inaccurate, because it disregards the element of exchange that characterizes the international linkages between many small and large states. In this article, I aim to outline and motivate an alternative model on the basis of which such relationships can be understood, which has been referred to as the international patron–client framework. After providing an overview of the contemporary academic literature on the role of small states in international politics, two sections follow in which I motivate the applicability of the patron–client framework to the field of international relations, and in which I explain the motives of both patron and client states. Subsequently, the accuracy and usefulness of the framework is examined on the basis of interview data gathered during field research in the three small client states of St. Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, and Palau. The findings of this analysis indicate that the patron–client linkage offers a more fruitful model to study the relations between small and large states than the existing literature does, because it recognizes the element of exchange that such relationships entail.
Whereas small island territories are known to face a variety of obstacles to democracy and good governance, it is largely unclear if a nonsovereign relationship with a larger metropolitan country can alleviate these challenges, and which constitutional status provides the best results in this regard. This article aims to address these questions by providing an in-depth case study of St. Eustatius, a Dutch Caribbean island that in 2010 was politically integrated into the Netherlands as a public entity or special municipality. Based on two weeks of field research consisting of nineteen in-depth interviews with a variety of respondents on the island, the article finds that the changes of 2010 have not been able to function as a remedy to the profuse governance problems on the island, while the increased Dutch involvement and dominance have resulted in widespread frustration and resentment.
