Size does matter?

This is an excerpt from an article "Size matters, sometimes" published in The Malaysian Insider:

"...I just want to share something interesting I found in the world of research, particularly a study done by a group of scientists at the Vienna Medical University last year.

Although it’s no surprise to some people, the scientists found out that the lesser the number of members in a cabinet; the more likely the government is going to be efficient.

According to press reports, the Austrian scientists led by Stefan Thurner studied 197 countries — including small European countries such as Monaco and Liechtenstein with only five cabinet members each and countries such as Sri Lanka with 54 members, Congo (40), Pakistan (38) and Myanmar (35) — and found out that those “with more than 20 ministers tend to be less efficient than others with less”.

The study was based on the work of the late English historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson who studied the British navy and noted that “committees with more than 20 members were less competent than smaller ones.”

Thurner added that: “Common sense would suggest that smaller cabinets would find it easier to reach a consensus. But to get the rest of the country behind a decision, cabinets also have to be large enough to represent of a wide range of constituencies. Behind every minister there is a set of lobbyists, interest groups and a large bureaucracy.”

According to sciencenews.org, Thurner’s team found that on average, a country’s development was tied to the size of its executive cabinet.

“For example, Iceland, which the United Nations ranks as the world’s most developed country, has a cabinet of just 12 members; the United States, which ranks 12th, has 17 cabinet members; Myanmar and the Ivory Coast, with 35-strong cabinets, rank 132nd and 166th,” says the report.

Malaysia has 32 ministers including the prime minister and his deputy. If we include their deputies, it’s a total of 67 frontbenchers to govern the country.

This is actually an improvement from the previous term when there were 93 frontbenchers including parliamentary secretaries and almost 40 ministers. Yet many people rejected Barisan Nasional during the 2008 general election..."

"...The Austrian study concluded that the ideal number for a cabinet is between 17 and 20. Unless it’s a dictatorship, I think size matters. I just wonder whether efficiency will be sacrificed in the name of political compromise..."

To read the whole article please visit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com and search "Size matters, sometimes"