Introduction : Gulliver and Lilliput in a new world order : the impact of external relations on the domestic policies and institutions of micro-states

Abstract

Introduction written by the author for Public Administration and Development Volume 18, Issue 2 : The articles selected for this special issue of Public Administration and Development take their cues from these concerns. Each investigates a particular instance in which external relationships impinge on the domestic policies and governing institutions of diminutive polities. Each illuminates some aspect of vulnerability. However, it would be difficult to justify yet another compendium of studies that merely sound the alarm about the micro-state's precarious future. It is perhaps of greater importance that these articles also discover ways in which the micro-state adapts to or, indeed, manages external relations by means of domestic policies and governing institutions. This introductory note draws together the several strands of their appraisal. It is not the purpose of this introduction to revive a sterile debate about the definition of the term micro-state. However, a publication that incorporates articles about the Australian Capital Territory, the Cayman Islands, Northern Ireland, Jersey and Malta cannot avoid explaining why such a diverse selection of territories ought to be regarded as 'micro-states'.