The Transformation of the Greek Party System

Despite a somewhat promising start, the outgoing coalition government of New Democracy (ND), PASOK, and the Democratic Left proved to be short-lived, giving way to a more compact bipartisan cabinet consisting of only ND and PASOK ministers (at an agreed ratio of two-to-one). Toiling under the shackles of a sclerotic austerity program, the first few true attempts at structural reform and downsizing of the wider public sector met with mixed reactions and caused the three-party coalition government to implode. This is only the first episode in a new political era of short-lived coalition governments with shifting partisan compositions.

On the Rise of Extremism in Europe

On March 14 2013, I had the privilege to host the Greek Public Policy Forum’s fourth event in Strasbourg, during the European Parliament’s Plenary Session. The topic explored was ‘The Rise of Extremism in Europe’. This is a phenomenon I have been noticing with increasing alarm, one which puts the whole European project in jeopardy.

The Strasbourg forum discussed the causes and common patterns that lead to the rise of extremism, as well as its relation with the economic crisis. To analyse the patterns, the political party Golden Dawn and its staggering rise in popularity in Greece was used as the particular case study.

The Golden Dawn in Comparative Perspective

The purpose of this brief note is to try placing the Golden Dawn in the universe of far right politics in Europe.

The Golden Dawn shocked many observers of Greek politics by receiving 7% in the last elections and it is now polling between 11-12%.  The party has been around for at least two decades, with dismal results whenever it participated in Greek elections – in 2009, it received 0.29%.