ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the results of field research on the effects of size on politics and democracy in Palau. It focuses at the political history, democratization, and political institutions of the microstate, after which an analysis of the Palauan political system is provided. The significance of clans, customs, and traditional leadership, and the absence of parties provide Palauan politics with a number of special dynamics, which render the microstate different from the other cases. The chapter presents the influence of size on politics and democracy in the Republic of Palau is examined along the lines of Dahl's dimensions of contestation and inclusiveness. It commences with an outline of Palau's political history and democratization process, followed by a section in which the presence of democracy in contemporary Palau is explained by pointing to a number of contributing factors.
