Bureaucratic Capacity

Abstract This chapter interrogates the paradox that because they still have to perform all of the functions of bigger countries, small states in the Caribbean and the Pacific have disproportionately large governments that nevertheless experience acute bureaucratic capacity constraints. A limited private sector means that bureaucratic jobs are highly sought after and a key form of patronage in hyper-personalized political systems. Federalism and other forms of multi-level governance exacerbate this problem via duplication. Centralization to achieve multifunctionalism can reduce costs, but it drives secessionism. Integration facilitates rationalization and the ability to extract external resources. But integration usually involves ceding autonomy to regional institutions and disrupting local patronage systems.