Panel: Public Administration and Policy-making in Small States
What is the Impact of States’ Size?
Chair:
Külli Sarapuu
Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia, kylli.sarapuu@ttu.ee
Külli Sarapuu is an Associate Professor at the Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia. Before joining the Nurkse School in 2007 she worked for the Estonian Government Office as the Deputy Head of Department of Public Service. In her research, Dr. Sarapuu has taken a special interest in the post-communist transformation of administrative structure in Central and Eastern Europe and mapping the respective changes in Estonia. Her other research interests include public sector coordination, governance of public organizations, and civil service and public administration in small states. In the Nurkse School, Dr. Sarapuu is teaching courses on the Estonian public administration, public sector organization, civil service and small states. From 2008 to 2016 she acted as the Program Director for the Executive Master of Public Management Program. Külli Sarapuu has also wide experience in consulting public sector reform and training civil servants.
Description:
Many states in the NISPAcee region can be characterised as small. They may be small in relative terms compared to their larger neighbours, but very often they are also small in absolute terms because of small populations. Internationally, there is already considerable discussion on the relevance of states’ size and the impact of scale on politics, public administration and policy-making. Small populations have been found to be especially significant for public policy making and implementation because of the limits they put on human resources and special social relations. Furthermore, small state politics and public administration tend to be more influenced by personalities and personalisation than in large states. This can be both a problem and an advantage. Consequently, the panel aims to discuss the relevance and impact of states’ size in the NISPAcee context. The panellists and the audience will debate the implications of size on the region’s countries’ public administration research, education and practice, both from the perspective of constraints and opportunities.
Objectives:
The panel aims to:
- Initiate academic debate on states’ size and the ‘small state theory’ in the NISPAcee community;
- Discuss the relevance of states’ size in the NISPAcee context;
- Reflect on the impact of size on small states’ politics, public policy making and implementation;
- Discuss the implications of small size for public administration research, education and practice, including the possibilities and limits for lesson-drawing.
Panellists:
- Prof. Jack Corbett, University of Southampton, UK
- Prof. Tiina Randma-Liiv, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
- Dr. Eka Akobia, Caucasus University, Georgia
- Prof. Ivan Koprić, University of Zagreb, Croatia