Remote control : governance lessons for and from small, insular, and remote regions

Abstract

Our subjects are small, insular, and remote communities. They range from small provincial governments to municipalities and specialized regional authorities. They typically, though not exclusively, are sub-national and local in their jurisdictional capacity. All tend to be relatively isolated by distance and access to levers of national political power. They are governance organizations in that they provide some level of service, co-ordinate and administer routine activities within their jurisdiction, and operate under reasonably clear norms, rules, and procedures with other, often larger and more powerful, governance bodies such as larger provinces, states, and nations (Bowles and Gintis, 2002). The opportunities and challenges associated with such middle-level governance bodies are profitably understood through the bifocal lenses of agency—the capacity to undertake purposive action collectively (Giddens, 1990) — and place — in which locally grounded values, preferences, and objectives are meaningfully incorporated into goal-setting and implementation (Pauly, 1999). This volume explores the opportunities and challenges associated with such middle-level governance organizations in smaller, isolated societies in their pursuit of successful and sustainable socio-economic development. This introduction reviews the context in which these governance institutions operate in a globalizing world where small and remote communities may be facing real threats of systemic decline. Nevertheless, the agency in place of local organizations, locally grounded but mediated within larger governance structures, spawns policy-making, identifies development opportunities, and improves the likelihood of success in their pursuit. Evidence of this effect is provided from a raft of sub-national and sub-provincial rural and island communities, but with a special focus on Newfoundland and Labrador. The organization of this volume also is critically reviewed here, highlighting the value of comparative research for the provision of lessons and best practices that can be distilled to provide general guidance and direction in remote control to a wide array of small and medium-sized jurisdictions.