Regional integration in the South Pacific: challenges for public governance

Abstract

Abstract: Purpose of this article is to present and analyse regional integration in the South
Pacific region, as well as to enumerate the potential challenges for public governance. The
article is divided therefore into 5 sections, starting from introduction, where the author
presents the idea of the research, gives definitions; second part deals with the South Pacific
integration as an example of regionalisation, where it is necessary to present the characteristic
features of the region, as well as its complex regional model of cooperation; third part
enumerates obstacles for public governance gathered into categories of legal and extrajudicial
challenges; forth part brings about some reason, why the Pacific microstates can be called as
weak democracies; finally, fifth part forms the conclusion where the author summaries the
whole research. The used methodology is the legal analysis, where the legal acts, as well as
political declarations have been taken into account. Overall, regional integration in the South
Pacific is weak because of a multitude of challenges for public governance. On the other
hand, though, those challenges might become a motivation for the small island states to
improve the level of regional governance.