ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents the exclusion of microstates in the comparative politics literature, and existing studies that point to a statistical correlation between size and democracy. It employs Dahl's classic conceptualization of polyarchy along the dimensions of contestation and inclusiveness in order to define democracy. The book discusses the historical and chronological overview of the existing literature on the influence of state size on politics and democracy is offered, which ranges from the ancient Greek philosophers to the present. It focuses on the existing case-oriented literature on small states, and pays attention to the key concepts and the research design of the study. The book describes methodological issues such as case selection, the framework for the comparison of the cases, and the methods of within-case analysis. It demonstrates in-depth analysis of the four cases that have been selected for comparison are presented and discussed.
