Ralph Nader has suggested that the 2016 US presidential election may be dominated by self-financing independent third party candidates. “Here’s what I think is going to happen… We will have the usual Green Party and libertarian parties in 2016. But there are some mega-billionaires who are seriously considering running third party… Mayor Bloomberg almost did […]

By David Wisner Michael Gerson had some interesting thoughts about an offhand remark made recently by retired US General Stanley McChrystal on service to the nation. McChrystal had expressed concern that only 1 percent of Americans serve in the armed forces, resulting in an unequal distribution of burdens and an unequal development of citizens. “Once […]

By Krysta Kalachani Let me bring to your attention a very interesting discussion (in Greek) about the new media and new types of journalism in the context ERT, as ERT was / is supposed to be. Worth watching, it tackles specifically the situation in the Greek media.  

“The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) drives principled solutions through rigorous analysis, reasoned negotiation, and respectful dialogue. Founded in 2007 by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell, BPC combines politically-balanced policymaking with strong, proactive advocacy and outreach. As the only Washington, DC-based think tank that actively promotes bipartisanship, BPC […]

From today’s NPR. “Three years of spiraling economic crisis in Greece have devastated every sector of the economy. The Greek media are among the hardest hit. Many newspapers and TV outlets have closed or are on the verge, and some 4,000 journalists have lost their jobs. Many people believe the country’s news media have failed […]

“As much as world change may be about politics or economics, at its heart it’s a creative proposition.  It’s about insight, engagement and persuasion.  It’s about ideas that are imagined, communicated and delivered in ways that move individuals, communities and whole societies to change the way they think and act. It’s about marketing. And while […]

  “Unlike in Greece, corruption is not a way of life in Spain. Most Spaniards go about their daily business without ever paying a bribe. But experts say that the concentration of power in the hands of regional and municipal officials and their ties to the local savings banks created ideal conditions for corruption in […]

  “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy: that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

What: Debate on US Democratic primaries, premiere of get-out-the-vote campaigns, selection of the best «Vote here» signs, mock exit poll, masterclass in social media, and more When: Monday, May 23, 7-9 pm Where: La Place mignonne, Ethnikis Aminis 4 click here for the map     Who: Alec Mally (former US Consul General of Thessaloniki, Democrats Abroad Greece) […]

By Maria Patsarika Is there a second chance for democracy, as Nikos Marantzidis claimed in Protagon last week? For one to be able to identify a positive orientation for populism in politics is a fresh, however risky, perspective on democratic renewal. When this is accompanied by concrete suggestions, however, the argument becomes even more robust […]

By David Wisner Last November the Dukakis Center hosted an international symposium on political reform in Greece. We brought in a wide variety of distinguished practitioners, scholars, and journalists to engage in a frank public conversation about how the Greece of tomorrow might appear. We gave equal time to students and young professionals, however, and […]

By  Maria Kalogeroudi Two speakers with a common concern: acting against racial prejudice. The one, a journalist, the other, a community organizer. Meet Damian Mac Con Uladh. Damian is an activist journalist who used to work for Athens News. He explained what an activist journalist is: a journalist for whom the boundaries between personal and […]

Political and economic liberalism have come under heavy and sustained attack as many countries struggle to find responses to the prevailing economic malaise. But for the staleness of much left-of-center political thinking, liberalism might be long dead and buried. Some in the UK think otherwise, however. Today’s Guardian has a nice clip with bits and […]

The Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service and Ianos Bookstore Cordially invite you to a presentation of Greek Urban Warriors: resistance and terrorism 1967-2014 by John Brady Kiesling Athens: Lycabettus Press, 2014 Monday, March 2, 2015, 7 PM Ianos Bookstore, Aristotelous 7, Thessaloniki Moderator: David Wisner The event will take place […]

By Maria Patsarika I read an article by Thanasis Skokos in Protagon yesterday about corruption. Actually, it is one of the many articles out there discussing the extent to which politicians who have misused power and public funds are now confronting justice and people’s outrage. Laying responsibilities on the financial side of things is a […]

Herewith the manifesto from Personal Democracy Media, conceived as a “hub for the conversation already underway between political practitioners and technologists, as well as anyone invigorated by the potential of all this to open up the process and engage more people in all the things that we can and must do together as citizens.”   […]

Ahead of the Thessaloniki European Youth Capital 2014 year, the British Embassy in Athens is organising a debate at Thessaloniki Municipal Council Hall on Wednesday, 13 November 2013 at 4.30, open to the public. Four young speakers from UK and Greece, Natalie Robinson – UK Young Ambassador, Sophie Rodgers – UK Young Ambassador, Ioannis Konstantinidis […]

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. […]

It was originally called the “Behavioural Insights Team,” a team of British policy analysts who employed psychological research to persuade citizens in the most subtle of ways to pay their taxes on time, get off unemployment, or insulate their attic. Now Canada has created a “nudge unit,” whose mission is to “nudge citizens into acting […]