PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN aoSMALL AND ISLAND DEVELOPING STATESa: A DEBATE ABOUT IMPLICATIONS OF SMALLNESS

Abstract

Much administrative theory is concerned with the role and function of the public service according to general principles. Thus, a small country#x2019;s public service is a small version of that in a big country, especially, those of the United Kingdom or France as most small countries and islands were once colonies of these European colonial masters. But, is it realistic to assume this linearity? Or, does something change substantively once certain thresholds of size are passed? We assume, for instance, that the Maldives Islands take a place in the United Nations with the same voting rights as China or India, but is this uniform acceptance realistic when considering how the public service works, or does not work? The number of publications specifically addressing this problem, as opposed to the general problems of smallness, is remarkably limited (Dommen and Hein 1985; Hope 1983; Jones 1976; Kersell 1985, 1987; Khan 1976; Murray 1981; Richards 1982; Schahzenski 1990; United Nations 1969; Baker 1992, Commonwealth Secretariat, 1985, Collins and Warrington, 1997, UNEP 1998), and the amount of empirically based study is negligible. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to explore the hypothesis that the nature of government changes with scale.