Jack Corbett is Professor of Politics at the University of Southampton. His research specialisms include the politics of small states, institutional memory and foreign aid, and interpretive research methods. He is the author of six books, two edited volumes, and more than 60 articles, chapters and commentaries. He edits the Topics in the Contemporary Pacific book series for the University of Hawaii Press, acts as deputy editor of Small States and Territories Journal and associate editor of the Australian Journal of Public Administration, and from 2022 will serve as Co-Director of the soon-to-be launched ODI Sustainable and Resilient Islands Initiative.

Call for papers

Many states in the NISPAcee region can be characterized as small. They may be small in relative terms compared to their larger neighbours, but very often they are small also in absolute terms due to their small populations. Internationally there is a considerable discussion on the relevance of states’ size and the impact of scale on politics, public administration and policy-making. Small states are perceived to be more vulnerable at the international level, more influenced by the global economic fluctuations, and to exhibit unique characteristics of public governance at home. The smaller the population of states, the more their public administrations can be expected to be influenced by limits on specialization and the lack of economies of scale – they need to prioritize, tend to be more multifunctional, may be short of policy expertise, and are more reliant on informal structures and communication. Furthermore, small state politics and administration tend to be more personalized than in the larger states. These small state characteristics may represent both constraints and advantages. Consequently, the panel aims to discuss the manifestations, relevance, and impact of states’ size on politics, public governance and public policies in the NISPAcee region. Analyses that try to distil the interaction of states’ size with other explanatory variables are also welcome. The papers can be theoretical or empirical, but they should have a clear conceptual basis and methodological approach. Comparative studies are particularly appreciated.

Altogether, the panel aims to:

-discuss the relevance of states’ size in the NISPAcee context;

-initiate academic debate on states’ size and ‘small state theory’ in the NISPAcee community;

-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.

The submitted abstracts should outline:

-the names of the authors and their affiliation;

-the objectives and research questions of the paper;

-the conceptual approach;

-the data and methodology to be used; and

-expected findings, if possible.

From participants of this panel full paper is required before the conference.