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City-State Redux: Rethinking Optimal State Size in an Age of Globalization

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  • Gaubatz Kurt Taylor

    (Old Dominion University)

Abstract

The Post-Cold War changes in the international system and the general march of globalization have led to a renewed interest in the optimal size of states. The most powerful theoretical models for understanding state size have come from models of the political and economic geography of cities. The classic Tiebout model has been used by a number of scholars to help understand the optimal area for the provision of a single abstract public good. I argue here for the use of the revision by Ostram, Tiebout, and Warren that emphasizes the polycentric nature of urban governance. This analogy better captures the variations in optimal size that may characterize different public goods. In so doing, it can help us better understand the simultaneous pressures for fragmentation and integration that are likely to characterize the twenty-first century.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaubatz Kurt Taylor, 2009. "City-State Redux: Rethinking Optimal State Size in an Age of Globalization," New Global Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-24, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:nglost:v:3:y:2009:i:1:p:24:n:1
    DOI: 10.2202/1940-0004.1032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alberto Alesina & Enrico Spolaore, 1997. "On the Number and Size of Nations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1027-1056.
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    3. Alberto Alesina & Enrico Spolaore, 1996. "International Conflict, Defense Spending and the Size of Countries," NBER Working Papers 5694, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Hooghe, Liesbet & Marks, Gary, 2001. "Types of Multi-Level Governance," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 5, October.
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