Kevin Featherstone

Dimitris Papadimitriou

This book is concerned with a large question in one small, but highly problematic case: how can a prime minister establish control and coordination across his or her government? The Greek system of government sustains a 'paradox of power' at its very core. The Constitution provides the prime minister with extensive and often unchecked powers. Yet, the operational structures, processes and resources around the prime minister undermine their power to manage the government. Through a study of all main premierships between 1974 and 2009, Prime Ministers in Greece argues that the Greek prime minister has been 'an emperor without clothes'. The costs of this paradox included the inability to achieve key policy objectives under successive governments and a fragmented system of governance that provided the backdrop to Greece's economic meltdown in 2010. Building on an unprecedented range of interviews and archival material, Featherstone and Papadimitriou set out to explore how this paradox has been sustained. They conclude with the Greek system meeting its 'nemesis': the arrival of the close supervision of its government by the 'Troika' - the representatives of Greece's creditors. The debt crisis challenged taboos and forced a self-reflection. It remains unclear, however, whether either the external strategy or the domestic response is likely to be sufficient to make the Greek system of governance 'fit for purpose'.

The Paradox of Power

Prime Ministers in Greece

Eleftherios Venizelos Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor of European Politics Kevin Featherstone

Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos

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.

The Oxford Handbook of Modern Greek Politics

Kenneth H. F. Dyson

Named Outstanding Academic Book by ChoiceThe Road to Maastricht provides a comprehensive and definitive account of how Europe signed up to Economic and Monetary Union. The book examines the dynamics of the treaty negotiations, focusing of the beliefs, motives, strategies and use of institutions by the leading European Union players.

Kevin Featherstone

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