Microstate Democracy Revisited: Developments in Time and Space

ABSTRACT

Research on small state politics suggests that smallness reinforces popular rule and that small states are more likely to be democratic than large states. The mechanisms that serve to transform smallness into democratic conduct remain, however, under-researched, and this study contributes by probing the very foundations of the belief that small size fosters democracy. For smallness really to count, small states should display a propensity for democracy at different points of time and where ever they are on the globe. If this is not the case, then, obviously, the size factor is surpassed by factors that relate to diffusion, culture or to regional circumstances rather than to smallness per se. The empirical findings suggesting that this is indeed the case, the study ends on a general discussion of circumstances that are likely to enhance or weaken the link between small size and democracy.