Hellenic Republic

(Greece)

Prepared By:
Noche, Jolina Mariz
I. HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS
EVOLUTION OF THE STATE
History during Stone and Bronze Age
Excavations show that the first settlement in Ancient Greece
dates from the Palaeolithic era (11,000-3,000 BC).
During the second millennium BC, Greece gave birth to the
great stone and bronze civilization: the Minoans (2600-1500
BC), and the Mycenaeans (1500-1150 BC) civilization.
These were the first important civilizations in the Greek
history.
The civilizations that flourished during the Bronze Age
ended in an abrupt way during the 12th century BC when
the tribe of the Dorians came from northern Europe.
 History during Classical Period
The peak of the classical period is the 5th century
BC, when the foundations of the western civilization
were created in Athens.
This city-state became the greatest naval power of
ancient Greece that time and developed all
domains of culture, including philosophy, music,
drama, rhetoric and even a new regime called
democracy.
Athens and Sparta were the most powerful city-
states in ancient Greece and the other city-states
were actually allied to one or the other of these two
towns.

 After the death of king Phillip II, his son Alexander

started a large expedition in Asia. In 334 BC,
Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire
and his army conquered all the way till India.
However, in 323 BC, he dies in Babylon at the age
of 33 and his Macedonian empire is torn apart and
governed by his heirs.
 History during Roman Period
From 168 BC and onwards, the Romans conquer
Greece and a new period starts for the Greek
history.
Athens and generally the Greek culture declines,
but the Greek becomes a second official language
for the Roman Empire. The Romans read the
classical philosophers and base their religion on
the Olympian gods.
In the 3rd century AD, the powerful Roman Empire
starts to decline and it is divided in two pieces, the
Eastern and the Western Roman Empire.
 History during Byzantine Period
While the Western Roman Empire was gradually
conquered by barbaric North-European tribes, the
Eastern Roman Empire with Constantinople
(Byzantium) as capital developed and was turned
into the Byzantine Empire that lasted for about
1,000 years.
Christianity becomes the official religion of the new
empire, new territories are occupied and new state
laws are formed. These laws will later constitute the
first laws of the modern Greek state, as it will be
formed in the 19th century.
 History during Ottomans period and Independence
war
In 1453 BC, the Ottoman Turks conquered
Constantinople and gradually the rest of Greece, which
had already partly been dominated by the Venetians and
the Knights of Saint John.
The country suffered a lot under the Ottoman occupation
and frequent rebellions would rise. As these revolutions
were unorganized, they were all suspended by the
Ottoman army, until March 1821 when the Greek War of
Independence broke out.
After many fights, massacres and seizes, the country
finally got its freedom in 1829, when the first independent
Greek state was formed and Ioannis Kapodistrias, a
Greek diplomat in the Russian courtyard, was set as
governor.
 History of the Twentieth century
After Kapodistrias was assassinated in 1831, prince
Otto from Bavaria became the first king of Greece,
followed by George I from Denmark in 1863.
In the early 20th century, Macedonia, Crete and the
Eastern Aegean islands were also attached to the
Greek state after the First World War. The year 1922
was troublesome for Greece as many Greek refugees
from Asia Minor came to the mainland, part of
population exchange with Turkey.
In World War II, Greece was first invaded by Italy
(1940) and subsequently occupied by Germany (1941-
44); fighting endured in a protracted civil war between
supporters of the king and other anti-communist and
communist rebels.
 Following the latter's defeat in 1949, Greece joined
NATO in 1951.
In 1967, a group of military officers seized power,
establishing a military dictatorship that suspended
many political liberties and forced the king to flee the
country.
In 1974 following the collapse of the dictatorship,
democratic elections and a referendum created a
parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy.
Since 1975, the regime of Greece is Parliamentary
Republic.
In 1981, Greece joined the EC (now the EU); it became
the 12th member of the European Economic and
Monetary Union (EMU) in 2001. Since 2010, the
prospect of a Greek default on its euro-denominated
debt has created severe strains within the EMU.
DECENTRALIZATION/CENTRALIZATION OF
POWERS
The administration of the State shall be organized
according to the principle of decentralization.
Decentralization is considered to be a process of
administrative, political and fiscal dimensions. The
usual practice of governments is to transfer all
responsibilities except financial matters to lower
administrative levels.
One aspect of administrative decentralization which is
of particular importance to this study is the transfer of
responsibility of planning, financing and the
management of specific public operations from the
central government to local administrative units
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Executive Branch
Chief of state: President indirectly elected by
Hellenic Parliament for a 5-year term (eligible for a
second term)
The president represent the State in its relations to
other States, declare war, conclude treaties of
peace, alliance, economic cooperation and
participation in international organizations or unions
and proclaims referendums.
Head of government: Prime Minister
 The Government determines and directs the
general policy of the Greek State, in accordance
with the provisions of the Constitution and the laws.
The Prime Minister of Greece shall safeguard the
unity of the Government and direct the activity
thereof and that of public services in general with a
view to implementing Government policy within the
framework of the law.
Cabinet appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister.
The members of the Cabinet and the Deputy
Ministers shall be jointly responsible for the general
policies of the Government.
 The Government determines and directs the
general policy of the Greek State, in accordance
with the provisions of the Constitution and the laws.
The Prime Minister of Greece shall safeguard the
unity of the Government and direct the activity
thereof and that of public services in general with a
view to implementing Government policy within the
framework of the law.
Cabinet appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister.
The members of the Cabinet and the Deputy
Ministers shall be jointly responsible for the general
policies of the Government.
 Legislative Branch
Unicameral Hellenic Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon
(300 seats; members serve 4-year terms).
Exercised by Greek Parliament, which is the
supreme legislative body of the Greek state and
enacts the laws, which are then issued and
promulgated by the President of the Republic.
 Judicial Branch
Highest court(s): Hellenic Supreme Court of Civil
and Penal Law (consists of 56 judges)
Judge selection and term of office: judges selected
by the Supreme Judicial Council which includes the
president of the Supreme Court, other judges, and
the prosecutor of the Supreme Court; judges
appointed for life following a 2-year probationary
period.
II. POLITICAL CULTURE
CITIZENS, THE SOCIETY
Nationality: Greek
Ethnic groups: Greek 93%, other (foreign citizens) 7%
note: percents represent citizenship, since Greece
does not collect data on ethnicity
Languages: Greek (official) 99%, other (includes
English and French) 1%
Population: 10,775,643 (July 2015 est.)
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.7%
male: 98.5%
female: 96.9% (2015 est.)
GLOBALIZATION;INFORMATION
DISSEMINATION
Greece, a European country in the Mediterranean,
known for its ancient culture, beautiful landscapes,
and delicious food, provides a rather complex case
study on globalization.
Citizens cannot be understood as mere consumers
because individual desire is not the same thing as
common ground; public goods are something more
than a collection of private wants.
The story of globalization is a story that reinforces the
run-amok tendencies of consumerism, since the
globalization of market relations exempts them as
well from regulation and oversight by democratic
institutions.
 Modern digital information and communication
networks reach all areas. There are over 35,000 km
(21,748 mi) of fiber optics and an extensive open-
wire network.
Internet cafs that provide net access, office
applications and multiplayer gaming are also a
common sight in the country, while mobile internet on
3G and 4G- LTE cell phone networks and Wi-Fi
connections can be found almost everywhere.
The United Nations International Telecommunication
Union ranks Greece among the top 30 countries with
a highly developed information and communications
infrastructure.
ROLE OF RELIGION, ETHNICITY AND
SOCIAL CLASS TO POLICY MAKING
The prevailing religion in Greece is that of the
Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ.
The Greek Orthodox Church is an integral part of
life in Greece where the most important holidays
are religious in nature and the national religion is
practiced by the majority of the population.
Greece and Orthodoxy are closely connected due
to the countrys historical past.
During several occupations, and especially during
the 400 years of Ottoman rule, the Orthodox
religion played a vital role in maintaining the Greek
ethnic and cultural identity.
 Religion is present in the education sector, both in
private and public schools, where children have
compulsory religious courses and pray collectively
in the morning before the start of classes.
The Orthodox Church is also much integrated into
the political matters of the country.
Even the Greek Constitution guarantees freedom of
faith, but defines the "prevailing religion" of Greece
as the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ.
Despite the fast moving processes of
Europeanization and globalization, Greece remains
a profoundly religious country.
III. PUBLIC POLICY AND ISSUE
Greece's Debt Crisis (Greek Depression)
The Greek government-debt crisis began in 2009
and, as of July 2015, is ongoing.
During this period many changes have occurred in
Greece. The income of many Greeks has declined,
levels of unemployment have increased, elections
and resignations of politicians have altered the
country's political landscape radically, the Greek
parliament has passed many austerity bills, and
protests have become common throughout the
country.
 After several contentious months of negotiations
between the country and its creditors, Greece
received its third bailout in five years.
The legislation covered some of the economic
changes sought by the countrys international
creditors, which include raising the retirement age,
cutting pensions, liberalizing the energy market,
opening up cosseted professions, expanding a
property tax that Greeks already revile and pushing
forward a stalled program to privatize state assets.