The Decline of Populism and the Prevalence of the (Neo)Liberal Modernization Paradigm in Greece

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Published: Dec 29, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/hapscpbs.26486
Keywords:
Left Populism SYRIZA Nea Dimokratia power shift pragmatism realism ideological dominance government and state power
Emmanouil Mavrozacharakis
University of Crete
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8922-9383
Abstract

The prevalence of the right-wing party of Nea Dimokratia (ND) in the Greek political landscape reflects an enormous change in the political behavior. Citizens have not chosen a simple switch on the power but contributed with their votes to a strategic defeat of populism and at the same time, they paved the way for the search for a new type of leadership, which is close to realism in handling with the social problems that cannnot be implemented merely with calculated financial costs. The dominance of conservative ND is not an ideological choice. It is a choice that runs counter to the logic of falsely or hypocritical negotiating austerity measures opposed to Greece by his lenders (due to memoranda) and the consequent tax-tornado as a result of negotiating failure with the partners in the EEC and the IMF. The positive choice for ND also reflects the contradiction with the misguided manipulations of public opinion regarding the strategy of micro-concessions and micro-alliances as a means of concluding a “political-social alliance”.

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Author Biography
Emmanouil Mavrozacharakis, University of Crete
Emmanouil Mavrozacharakis is sociologist and political scientist. He holds a PhD from the Department of Political Science of the University of Crete.
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