Broad interpretation However there is another way of interpreting SSWM. In contrast to the version, the interpretation refers not to specific causal connections ‘narrow’ ‘broader’ outlined above, but rather to a more general way of approaching the study of political economy in particular and politics in general. What I mean by interpretation in this ‘broad’ article is the position to take into account size (smallness) as a variable, analyse ideas and history, as well as recognize the importance of political legitimacy in affecting economic performance. Note that only the first item focuses on differentiating small states from larger ones. History, ideas and political legitimacy are important of state size. regardless To begin with, one of the main lessons of SSWM is that size is important and should be treated as a variable rather than a constant. In States and Small States ‘Small Katzenstein (2003) briefly explains his motivation for writing SSWM. SSWM Revisited’, was a follow-up on an earlier research project (Katzenstein Between Power and Plenty – 1977) and an attempt to address some of the One of the chief ones was – latter’s drawbacks. inattention to size as an explanatory variable. Smallness and vulnerability Katzenstein – maintains have important and far-reaching consequences for the development and – functioning of small politico-economic regimes. Of course, the countries’ ‘narrow’ interpretation also focuses on the effects of smallness, but it formulates a prediction specific on its role. By contrast, the version simply states that size is significant, but the way ‘broad’ it political economy and politics is contingent. affects any country’s The second implication of SSWM is the significance of history. Specifically, the small European states a tradition of accomodative politics dating back beyond ‘in (…) the nineteenth century facilitated the political reorientation that took place in the 1930s and (Katzenstein 1985, p. 35). In SSWM, Katzenstein claims that history is important, 1940s’ which means that there are powerful continuities to a economic and political given country’s
Broad interpretation However there is another way of interpreting SSWM. In contrast to the ‘narrow’ version, the ‘broader’ interpretation refers not to specific causal connections outlined above, but rather to a more general way of approaching the study of political economy in particular and politics in general. What I mean by ‘broad’ interpretation in this article is the position to take into account size (smallness) as a variable, analyse ideas and history, as well as recognize the importance of political legitimacy in affecting economic performance. Note that only the first item focuses on differentiating small states from larger ones. History, ideas and political legitimacy are important regardless of state size. To begin with, one of the main lessons of SSWM is that size is important and should be treated as a variable rather than a constant. In ‘Small States and Small States Revisited’, Katzenstein (2003) briefly explains his motivation for writing SSWM. SSWM was a follow-up on an earlier research project – Between Power and Plenty (Katzenstein 1977) – and an attempt to address some of the latter’s drawbacks. One of the chief ones was inattention to size as an explanatory variable. Smallness and vulnerability – Katzenstein maintains – have important and far-reaching consequences for the development and functioning of small countries’ politico-economic regimes. Of course, the ‘narrow’ interpretation also focuses on the effects of smallness, but it formulates a specific prediction on its role. By contrast, the ‘broad’ version simply states that size is significant, but the way it affects any country’s political economy and politics is contingent. The second implication of SSWM is the significance of history. Specifically, ‘in the small European states (…) a tradition of accomodative politics dating back beyond the nineteenth century facilitated the political reorientation that took place in the 1930s and 1940s’ (Katzenstein 1985, p. 35). In SSWM, Katzenstein claims that history is important, which means that there are powerful continuities to a given country’s economic and political