This volume is the authoritative Handbook guide to the development of Greek politics, economy, and society from the period of the fall of the Colonels' Regime (1974) to the present day, including the causes and consequences of the crisis in Greece and the aftermath of the crisis, in comparative and historical perspective.
This book not only analyzes and evaluates the current state of economic growth and development in Greece, but also investigates the potential for growth and development in the mid- to long-term horizon. This book presents a unique theoretical framework drawing on structural elements of political economy such as institutions, cultural background, and the complex nature of politics and political power, as well as neoclassical economics and behavioral economics. The first part of the book introduces readers to some key concepts of normative analysis from a theoretical and methodological perspective, presents the relation between theory and policy, placing the Greek economy within the framework of the Eurozone, and provides the political economy of integrated growth and development in Greek economy. The second part of the book describes the current condition of Greece in the global economy and attempts to detect the major social, economic and political trends that will prevail in the Greek society, while pointing the challenges that the Greek economy will face across the coming decade by taking into account the Covid-19 crisis. The third part of the book provides an overview of growth and development theory as specifically applied to Greece, focusing on the endogenous forces driving the economy, and portrays how the 2008 financial crisis and the crisis of Covid-19 transformed the framework of Greek growth and development policy, to the ground of a new consolidated situation of low growth, low inflation and low employment in the case of Greek economy.
Why the Greeks? How did it happen that these people--out of all Mediterranean societies--developed democratic systems of government? The outstanding German historian of the ancient world, Christian Meier, reconstructs the process of political thinking in Greek culture that led to democracy. He demonstrates that the civic identity of the Athenians was a direct precondition for the practical reality of this form of government. Meier shows how the structure of Greek communal life gave individuals a civic role and discusses a crucial reform that institutionalized the idea of equality before the law. In Greek drama--specifically Aeschylus' Oresteia--he finds reflections of the ascendancy of civil law and of a politicizing of life in the city-state. He examines the role of the leader as well as citizen participation in Athenian democracy and describes an ancient equivalent of the idea of social progress. He also contrasts the fifth-century Greek political world with today's world, drawing revealing comparisons. The Greek Discovery of Politics is important reading for ancient historians, classicists, political scientists, and anyone interested in the history of political thought or in the culture of ancient Greece.
With its deep economic crisis and dramatic political developments Greece has puzzled Europe and the world. What explains its long-standing problems and its incapacity to reform its economy? Using an analytic narrative and a comparative approach, the book studies the pattern of economic reforms in Greece between 1985 and 2015. It finds that clientelism - the allocation of selective benefits by political actors (patrons) to their supporters (clients) - created a strong policy bias that prevented the country from implementing deep-cutting reforms. The book shows that the clientelist system differs from the general image of interest-group politics and that the typical view of clientelism, as individual exchange between patrons and clients, has not fully captured the wide range and implications of this phenomenon. From this, the author develops a theory on clientelism and policy-making, addressing key questions on the politics of economic reform, government autonomy and party politics. The book is an essential addition to the literatures on clientelism, public choice theory, and comparative political economy. It will be of key interest to scholars and students of European Union politics, economic policy and party politics.
This rare focus on the politics of contemporary Greece explores in particular the country’s processes of public policy-making. It is more than thirty years since the restoration of democracy in Greece and in this period the country has undergone a number of major changes. Domestic political tensions have arisen from the pressures of ‘Europeanization’ as a consequence of Greece’s membership in the European Union. EU membership has helped define a ‘modernization’ project, latterly associated with Premier Costas Simitis, which clashes with traditional practices and paradigms. In addition, other challenges have arisen: of a multi-ethnic society, of the loss of faith in old ideologies and of the passage of old divisions. Greece now faces pressure to adapt to the external environment, as well as to the constraints of the will and capability of the domestic system. Politics and Policy in Greece addresses core issues, such as: * How far has the politics of ‘modernization’ penetrated Greek society? * How far have reforms to state-economy relations, welfare systems and constitutional rights reflected a liberal agenda and how far have they reflected traditional concerns? * How has ‘modernization’ affected Greece’s relations with the European Union? Containing expert overviews and detailed case studies of the dynamics of domestic politics, this accessible and informative volume is essential reading for both Greeks and non-Greeks alike.
Western democracies often trace their political roots back to Ancient Greece. While politics today may seem the dusty domain of lawmakers and pundits, in the classical era virtually no aspect of life was beyond its reach. Political life was not limited to acts of a legislature, magistrates, and the courts but routinely included the activities of social clubs, the patronage system, and expression through literature, art, and architecture. Through these varied means, even non-enfranchised groups (such as women and non-citizens) gained entry into a wider democratic process. Beyond the citizen world of traditional politics, there existed multiple layers of Greek political life-reflecting many aspects of our own modern political landscape. Religious cults served as venues for female office-holders; private clubs and drinking parties served significant social functions. Popular athletes capitalized on their fame to run for elected office. Military veterans struggled to bring back the good old days much to the dismay of the forward-thinking ambitions of naive twenty-somethings. Liberals and conservatives of all classes battled over important issues of the day. Scandal and intrigue made or ended many a political career. Taken collectively, these aspects of political life serve as a lens for viewing the whole of Greek civilization in some of its characteristic and distinctive dimensions.
The book draws extensively on research on modern Greece in recent decades, and on the many perceptive commentaries on recent events in the Greek press. It adopts both an analytical and chronological approach and shows how Greece has both converged with western Europe and remained distinctively Balkan. David Close writes clearly and forcefully, and presents a lively picture of the Greek political system, economic development, social changes and foreign relations. Aimed at readers coming to the subject for the first time, this is a readable and informative introduction to contemporary Greece.
Greece in the 1960s produced one of Europe's arguably most controversial politicians of the post-war era. The contrarian politics of Andreas Papandreou grew out of his conflict laden re-engagement with Greece in the 1960s. Returning to Athens after 20 years in the US where he had been a rising member of the American liberal establishment, Papandreou forged a social reform-oriented, nationalist politics in Greece that ultimately put him at odds with the US foreign policy establishment and made him the primary target of a pro-American military coup in 1967. Venerated by his admirers and despised by his detractors with equal passion, the Harvard-educated Papandreou left in his wake no clear-cut answer to the question of who he was and what he stood for. Andreas Papandreou chronicles the events, struggles and ideas that defined the man's dramatic, intrigue-filled transformation from Kennedy-era modernizer to Cold War maverick. In the process the book examines the explosive interplay of character and circumstance that generated Papandreou's contentious, but powerfully consequential politics.
Putting Greece back on the cultural and political map of the “Long 1960s,” this book traces the dissent and activism of anti-regime students during the dictatorship of the Colonels (1967-74). It explores the cultural as well as ideological protest of Greek student activists, illustrating how these “children of the dictatorship” managed to re-appropriate indigenous folk tradition for their “progressive” purposes and how their transnational exchange molded a particular local protest culture. It examines how the students’ social and political practices became a major source of pressure on the Colonels’ regime, finding its apogee in the three day Polytechnic uprising of November 1973 which laid the foundations for a total reshaping of Greek political culture in the following decades.
Elis examines the city of Elis from its earliest history, through the Archaic period and the Classical period where it reached its zenith, to its decline in the Hellenistic, Roman and later periods. Through examining this prominent city-state, its role in contemporary politics and the place of Olympia in its territory, Graeme Bourke allows the reader to explore broader issues, such as the relationship between the Spartans and their various allies, often collectively referred to as ‘the Peloponnesian League’, the connection between political structures and Panhellenic sanctuaries, and the network of relationships between various ancient sanctuaries throughout the Greek-speaking world. The volume, which makes available in English for the first time much of the debate about the city, provides a valuable resource for students and academics studying the city of Elis, the Peloponnese and the relationships within it, and pre-Hellenistic Greece as a whole.
