ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the results of field research on the effects of smallness on politics and democracy in San Marino. It focuses the political history, democratization, and political institutions of the microstate, after which an analysis of the Sammarinese political system is provided on the basis of four sub-dimensions of democracy. The results indicate that political competition is essentially personalistic in nature, despite the presence of political parties. In addition, government and parliament are to some extent found to dominate other institutions, and relations between citizens and politicians are primarily characterized by clientelism and patronage. The chapter analyzes the influence of size on San Marino's democracy by examining the presence, manifestation, and characteristics of the two dimensions of polyarchy contestation and inclusiveness. In sequence, attention is paid to the role of ideology, political parties, and the political opposition, the horizontal balance of power between institutions, the relations between Sammarinese citizens and politicians, and the characteristics of political participation.
