Up close and personal: how size affects politics in 65 Greek island municipalities

Abstract

To better understand the functioning of subnational politics, knowledge of size effects is indispensable. By means of a mixed-methods analysis of elections in 65 Greek island municipalities, this paper examines the effects of size on a wide range of democratic outcomes in a new, underexplored context. Our quantitative analysis is complemented by a comparative investigation of the neighbouring municipalities of Chios (population 54,000) and Psara (population 460). We find that smaller municipalities have higher levels of participation, lower levels of competition, and a greater presence of independent candidates without party labels. On the other hand, we do not find evidence for an effect of size on the re-election of incumbents or the prevalence of clientelism.