Incomplete Greek Territorial Consolidation: From the First (1998) to the Second (2008–09) Wave of Reforms

Abstract

The modern Greek state has been consolidated through the imposition of centralism and the abandonment of the former autonomist tradition which characterised the kind of fragmented society that was typical of the many countries that experienced Ottoman rule. Like other Southern European states, Greece experienced periods of civil war, authoritarian state practices, and dictatorship, before the establishment of a stabilised Third Republic in 1974. By the beginning of the 1980s, an overwhelming majority believed that public administration would become friendlier to citizens if many responsibilities were delegated to the municipalities. Socialist governments (1981–1989) undertook several decentralisation reforms, but were hesitant to promote obligatory amalgamations. The need for efficiency was the main argument for the Capodistrias Plan of amalgamations (1997) that were intended to restructure the first tier and create new, stronger municipalities. The majority of public opinion and political personnel seemed to approve the option of territorial reforms. By 2007, former opponents of the reform, namely the conservative leaders, initiated a debate on a second wave of amalgamations, thus implicitly acknowledging the success of territorial reform or at least the positive dynamics of a transformation that had to be completed. Dominant reasons which motivated amalgamations during the 1990s were Europeanisation combined with efficiency prerogatives. Territorial consolidation responded, furthermore, to emerging needs for complying with new articulations of entrepreneurial and sectoral interests. Nowadays, re-scaling is obviously combined to managerialist approaches that demand the creation of fewer and bigger structures that are expected to be more efficient and less costly.

Key Words:

• Greece
• territorial reform
• amalgamations
• decentralisation
• Southern Europe
• socialist governments
• Europeanisation
• democratisation

Notes

1 Right after their coup d'etat, the colonels often used similar expressions, referring to the country's politicians. Later on, they demonstrated their will to create a new, ‘non-corrupted’ political elite.

2 The politically extremely successful term of the ‘less privileged’ classes had been introduced by the populist vocabulary of the Socialist leader Andreas Papandreou (Mavrogordatos, 1997).

3 Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Athens, Survey on Island Administration, 1997–1999.

4 The law increases the sum over which such a decision is necessary according to the population of the municipality. More specifically, in municipalities with a population up to 50,000 inhabitants, such a decision is necessary for loans over [euro]1.5 million; in municipalities up to 80,000 inhabitants for loans over [euro]3 million; and in bigger municipalities for loans over [euro]5 million (Article 176, Paragraph 4 of the Municipal Code).