Small Is Democratic,But Who Is Small?

Anckar, Dag

doi:10.4172/2151-6200.1000002

Cited by 11 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In addition, this scholarly debate has also focused on the question of categorization; that is, how a state should rank on these variables to be classified as a small state or a microstate (cf. Alesina & Spolaore, 2005;D. Anckar, 2010;Crowards, 2002;Downes, 1988;Taylor, 1969).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Small States Offer Important Answers to Large Questions

Veenendaal

Corbett

2014

Comparative Political Studies

110

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Small states are conspicuously absent from mainstream comparative political science. There are a variety of reasons that underpin their marginal position in the established cannon, including their tiny populations, the fact that they are not considered "real" states, their supposedly insignificant role in international politics, and the absence of data. In this article, we argue that the discipline is much poorer for not seriously utilizing small states as case studies for larger questions. To illustrate this, we consider what the case study literature on politics in small states can offer to debates about democratization and decentralization, and we highlight that the inclusion of small states in various ways augments or challenges the existing literature in these fields. On this basis, we argue that far from being marginal or insignificant, the intellectual payoffs to the discipline of studying small states are potentially enormous, mainly because they have been overlooked for so long.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Small States Offer Important Answers to Large Questions

Veenendaal

Corbett

2014

Comparative Political Studies

110

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“…Informal communications between powerful interest groups and external forces largely precede the formal policy‐making process. Anckar () noted that urban islands make their residents more capable of orienting themselves toward political organisations. Macao's tiny territory has made personal communications, rather than formal institutions, the prevailing form of political interactions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining urban governance in the midst of political transformation: The city of Macao

Sheng

Wan

2017

Asia Pacific Viewpoint

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This paper takes a close look at the urban governance and political culture of Macao, the world largest casino city. Macao has experienced spectacular economic growth since gaming liberalisation in 2002 and China's Free Individual Travel scheme launched in 2003. However, the booming gaming sector has crowded out other sectors of Macao. It has not only made the city's economy mono-structured and consequently extremely vulnerable to external shocks and fluctuations but also induced serious social divisions and political controversies within the local community. By tracing the root cause of the ongoing dilemma and crisis in the mode of governance, the dynamic relationships between formal and informal institutions, consensus politics and the social group culture are intensively discussed in a historical context. In fact, the sustainable development of the former Portuguese colony has largely been hindered by its residents' passive attitudes toward political communication, non-transparent urban governance, the absence of a middle class and the dominance of pro-establishment social groups.

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“…In their classic volume Size & Democracy (1973), Robert Dahl and Edward Tufte discuss and empirically analyze a variety of size effects, and ultimately come to the conclusion that there is a trade-off between the benefits and downsides of smallness. Departing from the observation that virtually all small states have democratic regimes, other studies have primarily highlighted the democracy-stimulating features of small societies (Anckar, 2010;Diamond & Tsalik, 1999;Ott, 2000). These publications point to similar dynamics as highlighted by consociational scholars, among which a more homogenous, cohesive, and consensual society, greater opportunities for communication between leaders and citizens, and increased political awareness, efficacy, and participation among citizens.…”

Section: Informal Politics In Small Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Smallness Enhance Power-Sharing? Explaining Suriname’s Multiethnic Democracy

Veenendaal

2019

Ethnopolitics

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Pointing to a number of informal dynamics in small societies that are supposed to enhance cooperation and consensus, traditional studies on power-sharing posit that small states are 'most likely' candidates for stable, multiethnic democracy. These assumptions are, however, challenged by the case study literature on small states which highlights a variety of informal patterns that undermine democratic governance. Addressing this contradiction, the present paper provides an in-depth analysis of power-sharing politics in Suriname, a small, culturally heterogeneous country in South America that initially figured as a prominent case in consociational theory. The analysis reveals that the smallness of Suriname strongly affects and shapes the nature of democracy in the country. On the one hand, clientelism ensures that members of each ethnic group included in power-sharing arrangements have access to state resources and services, thus providing a large measure of political stability. On the other hand, clientelism undermines the functioning of multiethnic democracy by a host of negative side effects, among which economic and social dependency of citizens, executive dominance and authoritarian politics, endemic corruption that goes largely unpunished, and state predation by elites. The upshot is that whereas power-sharing arrangements in small societies might indeed be facilitated by a small population size, there is a heavy price to pay in terms of the quality of democracy.

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Small Is Democratic,But Who Is Small?

Cited by 11 publications

References 15 publications

Why Small States Offer Important Answers to Large Questions

Why Small States Offer Important Answers to Large Questions

Explaining urban governance in the midst of political transformation: The city of Macao

Does Smallness Enhance Power-Sharing? Explaining Suriname’s Multiethnic Democracy

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