A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Niarchos Foundation Conference on Philanthropy
Posted June 26, 2013 by Politis
The Second Annual Stavros Niarchos Foundation International Conference on Philanthropy will take place in Athens on June 27th and 28th. The conference will be broadcast live on the Stavros Niarchos Foundation website (www.SNF.org). Featured speakers include Andreas Dracopoulos, Anders Aslund, Olga Kefalogianni, George Soros, Garry Kasparov, and many more.
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Sins of our fathers
Posted March 27, 2012 by DW
By David Wisner On days like this past Sunday (March 25) we celebrate the heroic exploits of our forebears. We characteristically posit that knowledge of such exploits constitutes one of the cornerstones of modern citizenship. What a contrast with our own elders, one might muse. Indeed, like many before it, our age is prone to […]
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Indymedia: a different sort of public service
Posted January 25, 2013 by KK
Indymedia. The website is on the Politechnic’s server, or at least was in the past. From time to time the people that write there are accused of being anarchists. Whoever likes can write on the website. They started as independent media and often there have been efforts to shut them down… Sometimes they were actually […]
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Public service: commitment and payback
Posted June 20, 2014 by Politis
By Brian Newby I’m blessed to be in a job that truly feels like it matches against my skills. There are many facets to overseeing elections, from public relations to candidate relations, from high-tech to situations that require a human touch, from logistics to statistics, and everything in between. I have a hard time considering […]
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Virtual book launch at the Dukakis Center
Posted March 6, 2014 by Politis
The Dukakis Center will host a virtual launch of “Still at Aulis: Essays on Crisis and Revolution in Greece and the Eurozone,” a Kindle e-book by David Wisner, Executive Director of the Center, on Thursday, March 6, 2014, from 12 noon throughout the afternoon. Interested parties can follow the event on the “Still at Aulis” […]
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How does it feel to be Ukrainian?
Posted March 10, 2014 by pdcadmin
By Iana Nazarenko In a democracy, realists claim that the government should represent the common will of citizens, or at least act in the interest of the state and its people. But what if it does not? Should then citizens take action and change the situation, even if at the cost of hundreds of lives? […]
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Democracy under seige in the north
Posted June 25, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Tom McLaughlin Our first prime minster, Sir John A. Macdonald, said “A public man should have no resentments.” His seething successors demonstrate that this adage is in desperate short supply in Canadian politics today. Faithful to the partisan glue binding them to their parties, our political class is doing everything possible to diminish, demean, […]
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Ecosystem threat part and parcel of civic irresponsibility
Posted December 11, 2013 by M P
By Maria Patsarika Browsing a Sunday paper and a series of depressing articles on politics, one article made me think of the word “crisis” on a broader eco-systemic level, and also ponder the distressing consequences of our collective ignorance. Permissions for gold mining in Chalkidiki and protesters’ prosecutions are scandalous according to George Triantafyllidis, lecturer […]
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Women in public life — today!
Posted February 24, 2013 by Politis
Three stories in today’s Guardian show all the contradictions in looking at the roles women play in contemporary public life around the world. First, Yvonne Roberts laments the small number of women in public life in the UK. According to a report entitled Sex and Power, to be published Monday, “women make up only 22.5% […]
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Who’s Who in the new Greek Government
Posted June 21, 2012 by ip-admin
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (ND) Administrative Reform and E-Governance Minister Antonis Manitakis (technocrat, Professor of Constitutional Law) Deputy Manoussos Voloudakis (ND) Agricultural Development and Food Minister Athanasios Tsaftaris (technocrat, Professor of Genetics and Plant Breeding) Deputy Maximos Harakopoulos (ND) Defence Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos (ND) Deputy Panagiotis Karambelas (former Lieutenant General – Hellenic Army) Deputy Dimitrios Elefsiniotis (former Vice Admiral – Hellenic Navy, former Chief of […]
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Boutique politics in times of crisis
Posted February 10, 2014 by M P
By Maria Patsarika A new company has come to my attention, called West Wing, a political consultancy. Unbelievable, where did this come from! A true ”boutique outfit,” that. As I was going through “West Wing’s” strategy – what a name they chose, huh, reminds you of American sitcoms – I thought that the facelifting that […]
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Citizen election monitoring in Kenya
Posted March 2, 2013 by Politis
Politis is interested in citizen activism round the world, not only in Greece. We report here about an interesting article in Deutsche Welle on a grass roots initiative aiming to monitor the upcoming election in Kenya, using a platform developed by a company called Ushahidi. Ushahidi calls itself a “non-profit tech company that changes the […]
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The Crisis of the EU and the future of Greece
Posted December 9, 2012 by DW
By David Wisner Lecture given at Hamilton College, New York, September 2012 The title of my talk is: «The Crisis of the EU and the Future of Greece». It might well have been the inverse: «The Crisis in Greece and the Future of the EU». Semantics aside, the core problem I will address is whether […]
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Around the town: 5/24/13
Posted May 24, 2013 by laura
This weekly feature offers a glimpse of what is happening in and around Thessaloniki. Compiled by Laura Strieth. Thu 23rd May- Ondatropica- Colombian musician:Mario Galeano, and an English producer: Quantic, have joined forces to create the Ondatropica project. This project endeavors to explore and expand the tropical sound of Colombia in its rawest form and […]
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Greek islands for sale
Posted March 4, 2013 by Politis
Excerpts from an article by Helena Smith in today’s Guardian about the projected sale of a privately owned chain of islands in the Greek Ionian Sea. “The suitor is one of the world’s wealthiest men; the location happens to be the eurozone’s poorest country. But in an unlikely coming together of economic circumstances, the emir […]
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Politis Forum: To Vote or Not To Vote
Posted November 9, 2016 by Politis
The Editors of Politis asked members of the current blogging team to consider arguments in favor of not voting. We post the contributions of Northeastern University freshman Katharine Welch and Dukakis Center Director David Wisner below. This ends the current cycle of posts dedicated to the 2016 US general election. “Hearing the arguments,” by Katie […]
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Yes? No? Vote, and stay engaged
Posted July 3, 2015 by DW
We have an expression in the US. “Vote early and often.” Lest you think I am encouraging you to commit voter fraud, I actually have something else in mind. If you vote when young you are likely to continue to want to vote whenever you have the opportunity. Make it a habit. Just look at […]
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None of the above
Posted September 27, 2013 by Politis
Voters in democracies often express their dissatisfaction for the candidates, the parties, and, indeed, the political system itself by abstaining from voting on election day. (American voters may also vote for so-called “write-in” candidates whose name does not appear on the ballot.) In India, voters will henceforth have yet another alternative through which to express […]
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Saying of the day: 6/28/13
Posted June 28, 2013 by DW
“If history tells us anything, the fight against NSA secrecy is a winnable.” — Gregory Ferenstein, TechCrunch