A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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The Sprit of Eidomeni
Posted March 27, 2016 by Politis
The makeshift migrant camp in Eidomeni has been in the news regularly since the end of 2015. Reports today claimed the camp was finally being evacuated by Greek authorities. This would not be the first time. Last November a group of fifteen Dukakis Center interns, from Greece, the US, and several Balkan countries, organized a […]
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Is this what your average Cypriot citizen wants?
Posted March 25, 2013 by Politis
According to the 7:26 PM GMT entry of the Guardian’s live blog on the situation in Cyprus, “The Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades announced plans by his government to appoint investigators ‘to find out where responsibility lies’ in relation to what has happened in the country over the past two weeks. In a television address in […]
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Hands on the roof of the car
Posted October 24, 2013 by Politis
What say we reverse roles. A regular reader of Politis sent this arresting image our way this morning, with the following caption by Banksy. “The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It’s people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages.” […]
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Saying of the day 1/29/14
Posted January 29, 2014 by Politis
“I’ve never sung anywhere without giving the people listening to me the chance to join in — as a kid, as a lefty, as a man touring the U.S.A. and the world, as an oldster. I guess it’s kind of a religion with me. Participation. That’s what’s going to save the human race.” — Pete […]
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The economy has improved
Posted March 19, 2014 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani Everyone is smiles in Athens. The crisis is almost over. Hiring is up! Indeed, according to an article in a major Greek news outlet two weeks ago there have been considerably more net hires than fires since 2014 began. Now about those hirings… 53% of the total hirings (according to the Ministry […]
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More on those pesky 16 year-old Scottish voters
Posted June 9, 2013 by DW
The British think tank Demos has put this short video out arguing the merits of allowing 16 and 17 year-old citizens the right to vote in Scotland.
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Greece’s state broadcaster and the politics of eternal discontent
Posted June 12, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Kostas A. Lavdas The news is plain and simple. The Greek government has shut down the public broadcaster ERT, calling it a “haven of waste.” While all 2,500 employees would be sacked, the government says they would be paid compensation and would be able to apply for work when the corporation relaunches as a […]
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Who were the aganaktismenoi?
Posted February 21, 2013 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani Who were the aganaktismenoi, the Greek indignados? They were mostly people who were not supporting strongly any ideology or party. They might have been coming from all parties and all ideologies, meaning that they could have voted for one party or another in the past, but the gatherings in Syntagma Square during the […]
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It happened. It’s done. Now what.
Posted November 14, 2016 by Politis
By Jayde Hansen Regardless of how we feel about the elections, there is absolutely nothing we can do about the selection of the president at this point. What we can do is be catalysts for change. Social media has gone absolutely crazy since the world found out that Donald Trump is now the president of […]
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Should we look to ancient Athens?
Posted April 21, 2016 by Politis
By Claudia Chwalisz Editor’s note: Originally published on policy-network.net as “An Athenian solution to democratic discontent,” February 19, 2015. Reposted by permission of the author. New forms of contact democracy and innovative forums that allow political and economic institutions to deliberate with citizens are important steps in the long-term battle to renew representative democracy for the […]
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This is citizenship in action!
Posted February 24, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Maria Patsarika October 27, 2011 may now seem as a distant instantané of the eurozone crisis. However, at that time, it was seen by many as a victorious day, after having agreed a deal that slashed the Greek debt to 50%. As with all such deals, however, this one, too, had winners and losers; […]
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Enough with meaningless political speeches
Posted October 23, 2013 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani I’ve read Kyriakos Pierrakakis’ recent interview in Ethnos. Any thoughts, you ask? A bunch of words describing what has to be done in order to find solutions in this country, seemingly through the left. But without any practical substance in it. I mean we all (almost all) know what has to be […]
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The Dukakis Center: the inside story
Posted September 27, 2015 by Politis
A new academic year is beginning at the American College of Thessaloniki and the Dukakis Center is planning another banner year of events and public service initiatives. Politis caught up with Dr. David Wisner, Executive Director of the Dukakis Center, to get the inside story on the many events he has organized at ACT over […]
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Dukakis Lecture 2/18/13
Posted February 16, 2013 by Politis
The Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service Cordially invites you to attend The first Dukakis Lecture of the Spring 2013 Semester Featuring Hon Spyros Kouvelis Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs “Development perspectives, reform, and outward opening of Greek entrepreneurship” Monday, February 18 5-6:30 PM ACT New […]
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Occupy Barbie Dream House
Posted May 18, 2013 by Politis
By Politis A group of activists have been protesting the opening in Berlin of the European Barbie Dreamhouse, a new theme park which the protestors are calling “pink hell.” In an interview in Deutsche Welle, the leader of the “Pink Stinks” movement, Stevie Schmiedel, described their action as follows. “Basically we have a press stand […]
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The New Byzantine
Posted May 3, 2012 by DW
By David Wisner Byzantine: …excessively complicated and detailed… (Oxford English Dictionary) I went to my local mall this past weekend. Malls are interesting places to observe human behavior, and it strikes me that they may be seen as microcosms of the state. A mall is at once a symbol of affluence and symptom of globalization. […]
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Public sector reform, US style
Posted March 21, 2013 by Politis
Throughout Europe there has been an emphasis on public sector reform as the counterpart to austerity economics. In most cases, including Greece, little has been achieved. Paul Light of the Wagner School, NYU, makes a compelling case that the time is ripe in the US federal government for reform, now that sequester-imposed austerity has set […]
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What will it feel like to vote this time?
Posted May 5, 2012 by pdcadmin
In this post we publish the responses of a group of young Greek voters to the question, “How will you feel when you go to vote in Sunday’s elections?” It is perfectly certain for a responsible and thoughtful citizen that his right to participate in politics by voting is not so simple. In a democratic […]
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Sequestration: it’s the law of the land
Posted March 2, 2013 by Politis
SEQUESTRATION ORDER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 PURSUANT TO SECTION 251A OF THE BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT, AS AMENDED By the authority vested in me as President by the laws of the United States of America, and in accordance with section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended […]
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Human Rights Watch on Greece’s other crisis
Posted January 20, 2013 by KK
Excerpts from a post yesterday on the Human Rights Watch site. “Partly hidden within [the] turmoil [of Greece’s sovereign debt crisis] is another crisis threatening to spin out of control – xenophobic violence against migrants and asylum seekers in Athens and elsewhere. Violence against people from Afghanistan and North and sub-Saharan Africa is alarmingly commonplace, […]