Greek transition to democracy PDF

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Democratisation process in Greece...

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Transition(s) to democracy – the Greek case To various theories, a regime transition presents identifiable stages such as the old regime collapse, the transition itself and, finally, the new regime consolidation (Pridham, 1991; Bunce, 2000). Hence, democracy should be considered an interacting system deriving from several consolidated factors and elements, including civil and political societies participation, valid rule of law and bureaucracy and economic reforms (Linz and Stepan, 1996). In the light of these essential points, Greece does not seem an exceptional case. With a past made of political uncertainties, Greece finally begins her transition towards democracy in 1974 after the Colonel’s dictatorship fall. The civil society support to the junta was never solid and during the ‘70s the resistance against the regime became stronger (Hadjiyannis, 1990). So, as might be suspected, the fragmentation in the junta became more evident and leadership started ceding (Magone, 2003). Inevitably, this led to what officially marked the fall of the Greek dictatorship: the Colonel’s coup attempt against Makarios, Cyprus's president, in July 1974. The try caused the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which slowly brought to the definitive fall of the dictatorship (Agosta, 2016). After the old regime’s collapse, the so-said “transfer of power” (Diamandouros, 1984) began with the return of Karamanlis, who had dominated Greek politics until the early 1960s. The efficiency of his transition primarily relied upon civil society support, the above-mentioned requisite for democracy. Felt as a saviour by the population (Magone, 2003), Karamanlis supported a political normalisation, therefore conquering the support of a large sector of political parties (Pridham, 1984). Karamanlis becomes in line with Bunce’s figure of political leader, a central figure appreciated as a state builder. Moreover, the political and civil endorsements built a trust which allowed him to proceed with different reforms which contributed to creating a democratic interacting system. Karamanlis’s transition was gradual but decisive. The first ‘instruments’ used to build a solid democratic system usually are “popularly-derived legitimacy” elections and referenda (Pridham, 1984; Bunce, 2000). He was elected in November 1974 with a large consent and then through a referendum citizens chose Republic over monarchy. Trying to rebuild solid rule of laws and bureaucracy, in 1975 Karamanlis established the return of the Constitution of 1952. He suspended the monarchy-inherent articles, based his reforms on education and civil topics, limited military power and supported political pluralism (Linz and Stepan, 1996). However, the most relevant society participation was dictated by the trial held against the Colonel’s and their supporters, which helped enforcing nationalism among Greek citizens. Economically speaking, he tried to reform the situation and manage the crisis under the European Community guidance and support by applying to become a member (Pridham, 1991). All the mentioned theoretical points were fulfilled with Karamanlis’s reforms, but Greek democracy was consolidated, according to Linz and Stepan, in 1981. If consolidation means that democracy has put down roots in a society, then only the elections held in 1981, which saw the socialist opposition’s victory, could have confirmed the depth of those roots (Linz and Stepan, 1981). Hence, since Colonels, Greek safety and democracy have not been threatened.

References Agosta, A., 2021. Le elezioni del 1977 e le prospettive della nuova democrazia in Grecia. Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, 9(1). Bunce, V., 2000. Comparative Democratization: Big and Bounded Generalizations. Ezrow, N., 2011. Dictators and dictatorships: understanding authoritarian regimes and their leaders.

Linz, J. and Stepan, A., 1996. Problems of democratic transition and consolidation: Southern Europe, South America and post-communist Europe. John Hopkins University Press. Magone, J., 2003. The politics of Southern Europe: integration into the European Union. Praeger. Pridham, G., 1984. The new Mediterranean democracies: regime transition in Spain, Greece and Portugal. London: Frank Cass & Co., pp.50-71. Pridham, G., 1991. Encouraging Democracy - The international context of regime transition in southern Europe. Leicester: Leicester University Press....