A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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The new sick man of Europe
Posted May 14, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner “The European Union is the new sick man of Europe. The effort over the past half century to create a more united Europe is now the principal casualty of the euro crisis. The European project now stands in disrepute across much of Europe.” So read the opening lines of a new report […]
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Panhellenic platform for engaged citizens
Posted November 20, 2013 by Politis
Την Τετάρτη, 20 Νοε 2013, στις 18.00, στην αίθουσα πολλαπλών χρήσεων του Δημαρχείου Θεσσαλονίκης το Πανελλήνιο Παρατηρητήριο Οργανώσεων της Κοινωνίας των Πολιτών και ο Ευρωπαϊκός Όμιλος Εδαφικής Συνεργασίας (ΕΟΕΣ) «ΕΥΞΕΙΝΗ ΠΟΛΗ – Δίκτυο Ευρωπαϊκών Πόλεων για τη Βιώσιμη Ανάπτυξη» με την υποστήριξη του Δήμου Θεσσαλονίκης, οργανώνει την, ανοικτή σε όλους, «Πανελλήνια Πλατφόρμα Ενεργών Πολιτών». Η […]
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Buying the presidency? A new twist
Posted March 25, 2013 by Politis
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 […]
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The rally that did not happen
Posted May 15, 2012 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani Athens, May 13, 2012. Nothing about Athens and the rally. No news in the hashtags and no photos, and I thought that when I went there it was late, but I guess people were very few really. Yup! I can imagine, I myself was on the track again with the motorbike… Believe […]
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Paid or unpaid?
Posted October 6, 2013 by M P
By Maria Patsarika As practitioners of public service and volunteerism, we encourage high school and college students to pad their c-v by doing internships. That leaves open an important question: Paid or unpaid? It may be more a matter of one’s own background, ambitions (and one’s family ambitions too) and personal understanding of why one […]
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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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Lessons from a shipwreck to a shipwrecked country
Posted April 25, 2014 by M P
By Maria Patsarika This is not an easy piece to write. The tragic April 2014 ferry accident in South Korea, better deserves a an expression of humble, silent sympathy with the mourning families. Watching the story unravel on the news these days, however, one image kept coming back: inside the gymnasium, where the relatives […]
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Huffington Post: Greece Immigrants Face ‘Alarming’ Increase In Attacks, Group Says
Posted July 12, 2012 by MK
Derek Gatopoulis 7/10/12 ATHENS, Greece — A leading human rights organization is urging Greece’s new government to take “urgent action” to curb an “alarming” increase in attacks against Asian and African immigrants, including brutal assaults by gangs on teenage boys and pregnant women. In a 100-page report issued Tuesday, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said xenophobic […]
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Dukakis Center and Politis participate in cleanup weekend
Posted June 10, 2012 by ip-admin
Students and faculty from Anatolia and ACT, and the Dukakis Center took part in two clean up activities in Thessaloniki on the weekend of June 9-10, 2012. First, a group of volunteer citizens helped clean up the beach behind the Hondos Center in the Florida shopping center, part of a city-wide initiative led by Thessaloniki […]
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“Do you mean what you say?” Mark Mazower on political extremism
Posted February 11, 2013 by Politis
Mark Mazower, the author of “Salonica, City of Ghosts,” was interviewed in Kathimerini this past weekend. Here is what he had to say about political extremism in Greece today: “The new and highly disturbing feature of the scene in Greece is obviously the rise of the far right. Its emergence forces us to confront the […]
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Art, Aesthetics, and Power
Posted May 18, 2013 by Politis
A very interesting yconference organized at the American College of Thessaloniki by Dr. Maria Kyriakidou. Wednesday, May 22, 11-6. The event is open to the general public. For further information contact Maria Kyriakidou at markyria@act.edu.
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How frequently do we use opengov services?
Posted April 3, 2013 by Politis
A nice chart below on the top online tasks carried out by frequent users in the UK. Note the lag in opengov service use relative to such tasks as reading the news, making purchases online, or engaging in some form of entertainment.
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Visions of public service: Greece leads the way
Posted January 20, 2014 by DW
By David Wisner I have been on a quest over the past several months. I am looking for a vision of active citizenship suitable for our times. I admit to suffering from a bit of unease in this quest. In fact, the relative certitude I felt about the classic Anglo-Saxon model of public service I […]
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Editors’ choice: summer reading from Politis
Posted August 1, 2012 by MK
Politis have selected the following series of previously published articles, covering a variety of topics, for your summer reading. Compiled by Politis summer staff intern Miriam Kamil. 1. This cheat sheet is excellent to have on hand while reading other entries in Politis’ live blog coverage of parliamentary elections in Greece. 2. We love Politis […]
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Football activism
Posted June 23, 2013 by DW
A striking scene from the Copacabana.
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Why the future of Greece lies in the rise of a new civil society and education
Posted January 15, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Yannis Theocharis A light breeze of transformation stems to have started blowing silently in Greece. The younger generation has inspired a wave of voluntary initiatives and actions targeted at resolving collective problems in the last couple of years. The recent manifestations are numerous and exciting: voluntary-based events that encourage structured debate and spreading new […]
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Why is the Greek crisis over?
Posted April 10, 2014 by DW
By David Wisner The international news is awash with stories of Greece’s return to the bond market. It is fashionable again for Greece to be in the headlines. The “success story” line is ubiquitous. As Hugo Dixon writes in Reuters, the Greek rebound is “astonishing.” Why? First, it is important to acknowledge that the discerning […]
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The crisis hits the media
Posted February 20, 2013 by Politis
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 […]
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More measures? (sigh)
Posted March 1, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Andy Dabilis Following a report from Greece’s creditors that shows tax collections are far off course despite big tax hikes, the International Monetary Fund has warned that unless revenues rise and tax cheats are caught that the government will be forced to impose more austerity measures. That has included previous big tax hikes, including […]
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To serve our country’s democracy
Posted November 9, 2016 by Politis
By Michael Ertel NB Michael Ertel is Supervisor of Elections in Seminole County, Florida, where he has served since 2005. He spoke at two Dukakis Center events during the 2016 election period. Politis reproduces these remarks with permission of the author. When I tearfully hugged our staff as they left the building last night, my […]