The Little Things in Life
Author | Peter Geoghegan |
DOI | 10.1177/2041905819838156 |
Published date | 01 March 2019 |
Date | 01 March 2019 |
MARCH 2019 • POLITICAL INSIGHT 3
The Little
Things in Life
The nal series of The Wire, David
Simon’s seminal series of lore and
disorder in Baltimore, is partly
set in the oces of a struggling
local newspaper. In one memorable scene,
a senior manager, announcing the latest
round of cutbacks, tells sta they must ‘do
more with less’. A veteran reporter mutters,
‘you don’t do more with less, you do less’.
Political science, in contrast, has long
been preoccupied with ‘doing more with
more’. What happens in big states – from
the USA and Russia to China and India –
has often dominated discussions about
politics and political theory. Lesser powers
struggle to get a look in.
Smaller states have been marginalised
as a result of what Corbett and Veenendaal
call an ‘unacknowledged gigantism’. In this
issue’s cover feature, the authors make
a compelling case for why small states
matter.
Small states are much more likely to be
democratic than their larger counterparts.
Moreover, they often exhibit a successful
version of the hyper personal politics that
voters from the US to Europe increasingly
seem to crave. As we all collectively
struggle to understand the current
crisis in liberal democracies across the
world, perhaps the time has come to pay
attention to the little things in political life?
States are not the only aspect of politics
that can be small as well as big. The large
institutions that make up democratic life
– from parliaments to legal systems – are
themselves composed of myriad smaller-
scale rules, regulations and norms.
Looking at the ‘micro-institutions’ that
make up larger political structures, Patrick
Dunleavy nds that these detailed systems
of established rules and practices can have
a profound impact on how democratic
institutions work. The seemingly mundane
House of Commons business rules, for
example, signicantly shaped the Brexit
process in recent months.
Micro-institutions also provide a
key point of departure between core
democracies and semi-democracies. While
in liberal democracies large institutions are
supported by implementation practices
and rules, in states such as Hungary and
Russia these regulations and norms are
subverted by the dominant regime.
Hungary has provided a prototype
for other Eastern European populists to
follow. Jasmin Mujanović reports from
one of ‘illberal’ Europe’s newest members:
Croatia. European Union membership was
supposed to transform the once war-torn
littoral Balkan state, but barely ve years
later Croatia stands at a crossroads between
democracy and reactionary illiberalism.
The crisis in liberal democracy has also
hit what are sometimes called ‘the Great
Powers’. In late 2018, a series of massive
demonstrations brought parts of France to
a standstill. Emiliano Grossman nds that
the so-called ‘yellow vests’ are a response to
an intense crisis of trust in French politics.
In the United States, Donald Trump rode
a populist wave to take the presidency in
2016. As James D. Boys reports, in his rst
two years in oce Trump has presided
over near constant domestic political
uncertainty, an economy that ebbs and
ows and a chaotic foreign policy. But
could still win again next year.
The rise of nationalism in the world’s
largest states could have a profound
impact on how, and even if, major global
problems are tackled. Nowhere is this
more apparent than when it comes to
climate change. In the regular In Focus
slot, Benjamin D. Hennig shows that
national political interests have consistently
curbed international eorts to reduce
CO emissions – a trend that could even
intensify in the coming years.
Elsewhere, Toni Haastrup looks at how
the United Nations’ agenda on Women,
Peace and Security has been implemented
across Africa and nds important strides
for gender equality but also signicant
challenges ahead. Shan-Jan Sarah Liu
examines the barriers faced by women in
political oce and examines how these
obstacles might be overcome.
In the Last Word, Ruxandra Serban
compares and contrasts the dierent
approaches that parliamentary
democracies use to hold prime ministers to
account. Ben Williams explores a history of
austerity in British politics, from the post-
war years to the present day.
Whether it is the biggest states in
the world, or the micro-institutions that
undergird our political system, the coming
year promises yet more change in our
tumultuous political world. If you would
like to join the debates or contribute to
Political Insight get in touch or visit
www.psa.ac.uk/insight-plus.
Peter Geoghegan
Editor
Political Insight March 2019.indd 3 22/02/2019 08:54
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