ΕΛΛΑΔΑ « ELLADA »
— Also: Ελλάς « Ellas ».
— Officially: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία « Ellēnikē Dēmokratia ».
— English: Greece.
— Seat of government: Αθήνα « At‛ēna ».
— Status: Democratic.
— Structure: Parliament (Βουλή των Ελλήνων « Boulē tōn Ellēnōn ») is elected in geographical constituencies, modified by party-list proportional representation and a bonus for the party with a plurality; government is led by a prime minister chosen by parliament.
— Governing parties: Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς « Sunaspismos Rizospastikēs Aristeras »; Ανεξάρτητοι Έλληνες « Aneksartētoi Ellēnes », led by Πάνος Καμμένος « Panos Kammenos ».
— Heads of government: Αλέξης Τσίπρας « Aleksēs Tsipras », ΣυΡιζΑ « SuRizA », prime minister (since 2015); Προκόπης Παυλόπουλος « Prokopēs Paulopoulos », president.
— Other parliamentary parties: Νέα Δημοκρατία « Nea Dēmokratia »; Χρυσή Αυγή « K‛rusē Augē », led by Νικόλαος Μιχαλολιάκος « Nikolaos Mik‛aloliakos »; Δημοκρατική Συμπαράταξη « Dēmokratikē Sumparataksē » (Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα « Panellēnio Sosialistiko Kinēma » and Δημοκρατική Αριστερά « Dēmokratikē Aristera »); Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας « Kommounistiko Komma Elladas »; Το Ποτάμι « To Potami », led by Σταύρος Θεοδωράκης « Stauros T‛eodōrakēs »; Ένωση Κεντρώων « Enōsē Kentrōōn ».
— Assessment: Significant instability and disturbing nationalism, particularly against Македонија-Скопје « Makedonija-Skopje » and Türkiye and in defense of the nationalists of Κύπρος « Kupros ». The preposterous linguistic claim over ‘Makedonia’ is hypocritical, in that the state is unwilling to modify the name of its own province of “Μακεδονία” « Makedonia ». There has been some progress in recent years on attitude towards Türkiye. ΠαΣοΚ « PaSoK » governed from 1993 to 2004, first under Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου « Andreas Papandreou » (1981-9, 1993-6), and then under Κώστας Σημίτης « Kōstas Sēmitēs » (1996-2004). Νέα Δημοκρατία « Nea Dēmokratia » won elections in 2004, and Κώστας Καραμανλής « Kōstas Karamanlēs » (2004-9) became prime minister. ΝΔ « ND » was reelected narrowly in 2007. Elections in 2009 led to a dramatic swing in favor of ΠαΣοΚ « PaSoK », with Γεώργιος Παπανδρέου « Geōrgios Papandreou » (2009-11, son of Ανδρέας « Andreas ») becoming prime minister. In 2011, the European debt crisis led to pressure from EU partners for a technocratic government, eventually led by economist and central banker Λουκάς Παπαδήμος « Loukas Papadēmos » (2011-2). An election in 2012 led to a surge for parties opposed to the austerity program, notably ΣυΡιζΑ « SuRizA », which placed second, and the ultranationalist Χρυσή Αυγή « K‛rusē Augē », but no party was able to form a government. A repeat election in June shifted the balance towards parties willing to accept the EU bailout terms, and Αντώνης Σαμαράς « Antōnēs Samaras » (2012-5) became prime minister. But ΝΔ « ND » and ΠαΣοΚ « PaSoK », once the dominant parties of a largely two-party system, had a bare majority between them. The Ανεξάρτητοι Δημοκρατικοί Βουλευτές « Aneksartētoi Dēmokratikoi Bouleutes » defected from other parties after the election. When the government was unable to produce the votes to elect a president in 2014, a new election was called for 2015, and anti-austerity parties dominated once again.
— FH: 1-2, free. Econ: 8.13 (22), full democracy.
— Updated: 2018 January 7.
O.T. FORD