A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Center right, center left: biology and politics
Posted March 10, 2013 by Politis
“A growing body of experimental research is finding evidence suggesting that, to some degree, political inclinations and ideological leanings may be tied to innate factors like a person’s biology, physiology and genetics.” So reads the conclusion of a recent article in Politico. Politis has run stories like this for a couple months, now. It all […]
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The story of regulatory reform in Greece
Posted April 30, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Efi Stefopoulou Regulatory policy may be defined broadly as an explicit, dynamic, and consistent “government-wide” policy to pursue high quality regulation. Greek regulatory policy has been subject to a long-lasting reform effort that has just recently reached a major milestone. A law has just been enacted setting better regulation principles and prescribing the procedures […]
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Of technical competence
Posted February 27, 2013 by Politis
What do politicians do when they are not politicians? Or better yet, what did they do before they became politicians? Two scholars, Mark Hallerberg and Joachim Wehner, asked more or less these questions. They were particularly interested in the circumstances when an electorate would choose technocrats to lead a government. Their findings? “Our analysis of data […]
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Post-crisis posturing?
Posted February 3, 2013 by Politis
A bit of finger pointing (and back-patting), if not distance-putting, today from Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras. Inaction by former PMs Kostas Karamanlis and George Papandreou exacerbated Greece’s sovereign debt crisis, claimed Sournaras in an interview in Sunday’s Kathimerini. As early as 2006 the Greek government could and should have taken corrective measures to lessen the […]
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On the “social” economy
Posted January 30, 2014 by DW
Politis recently published a post on efforts in Northern Greece to encourage active citizens to involve themselves in matters of “social economy.” Below we share excerpts on the subject from an article by Andrew Higgins in the New York Times. “In their search for solutions, Greeks are tinkering with a new kind of economy with […]
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Sinking in our own shit
Posted July 18, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner Here is something I had been thinking a lot about before it happened. We all want action to be taken to avert or resolve a crisis. We all want to believe that we can contribute our small part in the effort to clean up the mess we ourselves may be partly responsible […]
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Around the town: 28/2/13
Posted February 28, 2013 by laura
NOW till Monday 1st Apr – The Greek Monsters – The Beetroot Design Group and the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art present a three-dimensional sculptures exhibition featuring the Minotaur, the Cyclops, the Stymphalian birds and the rest of the bizarre creatures that haunted heroes’ deeds in ancient Greek mythology. The exhibition consists of installations, sculptures, […]
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Which Greece, which Europe
Posted January 25, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner Two public speeches this past week have turned as sharp a spotlight on the future of the EU and certain of its members states as have few events since 2009. First, the leader of Greece’s main opposition party Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, spoke and took questions at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, […]
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Looking at strangers in a globalized world
Posted November 29, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Franchesca Verendia Leaving for Greece from the US I was expecting plenty of things—good food, a nice view, rich history, and some beautiful weather. I was even expecting some initial culture shock. What I was not expecting were the long stares when I walked down the street, the second-guessing questions (“So where are from?” […]
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The downward spiral of Turkish democracy
Posted June 1, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Livy Merchant When I was a curious teen-aged kid, I subscribed to a series of Time Life books on history and civilization. One was a beautiful book entitled Islam, the Religion of Peace. It was the early fifties and this was the only source of my knowledge of Islam at the time. It was illustrated with […]
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Saying of the day: 4/1/13
Posted April 1, 2013 by Politis
“So what does it mean when a company institutionalizes altruism? It means more students are mentored and tutored, more afterschool programs funded, more books read, better grades and test scores, and more poor families helped.” — Julia Wade (Domus Kids)
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A world that doesn’t shame your heart…
Posted February 12, 2013 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani “I hope for nothing, I fear nothing, I am free.” “And what is the highest command? Deny all consolations-gods homelands, ethical, truths – and be left to conjure, with only your power, a world that does not shame you heart … take upon any responsibility…” — Nikos Kazantzakis Sometimes I cannot seem […]
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Greece: mostly not free
Posted March 30, 2013 by Politis
2012 World Map of the Index of Economic Freedom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2012_World_Map_of_the_Index_of_Economic_Freedom.PNG).
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Sport and politics
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
This bit was posted by a wag yesterday on the BBC web site, relative to the transfer of soccer star Mario Balotelli from Manchester City to AC Milan (the latter owned by Sylvio Berlusconi). “When Inter president Massimo Moratti said yesterday that Silvio Berlusconi would have many uses for Mario Balotelli he was absolutely right. […]
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Saying of the day: 6/2/13
Posted June 2, 2013 by Politis
“At least he [Erdogan] is leaving us some crumbs. The previous bastards never gave us everything.” — Turkish supporter of the AKP
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Exclusion from the future
Posted June 7, 2012 by PR
By Paschos Mandravelis* Ultimately, youth unemployment is not just a Greek phenomenon, nor is it limited to Europe. It is a global threat to stability and to our societies’ ability to reproduce. Worse than the fact that 13 percent of people aged between 15 and 24 worldwide are out of work is that 6 million […]
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Are we all gypsies?
Posted October 30, 2013 by Politis
Politis invited regular contributors Krysta Kalachani and Maria Patsarika for their reaction to a recent commentary by Andreas Zamboukas in capital.gr entitled “The identity of being a gypsy,” in reference to the spate of media attention to the blond gypsy girl found by Greek authorities in a gypsy encampment in central Greece and erroneously believed […]
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Who wants to …?
Posted January 25, 2015 by DW
Election day is nigh upon us. With this in mind, there are three dimensions to the question I have been thinking of asking: Who wants to run, who wants to vote, and who wants to govern. In May 2014 the Dukakis Center examined an apparent inflation in the number of candidates running for local and […]
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Saying of the day: 6/12/13
Posted June 12, 2013 by Politis
“Culture is like marmalade. The closer you get to the bottom of the jar the more you try to spread what’s left.” — Anonymous (Paris, 1968)
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Women win the right to vote in Greece
Posted May 28, 2013 by Politis
The right to vote for and stand as candidate in legislative and municipal elections for women was secured on 28 May, 1952, through law 2159, which gave women equal rights to men. Women did not vote in the elections of November of that year, however, because the electoral rolls had not been yet been brought […]