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The police and the far right in Greece: a case study of police voting behaviour in Athens

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Abstract

The electoral advance of the far right party of Golden Dawn has left a clear mark on the Greek parliamentary elections of 2012. A less debated aspect of these results involves the extent of the electoral influence of Golden Dawn among police personnel. Using electoral data from two districts in Greece’s capital city, this paper explores the extent of that influence among major front line police units based in those localities. Our analysis obtains clear indications that Golden Dawn’s presence has been much more emphatic among police personnel than among the general public. These results warrant further exploration of this development, particularly in light of the possibility that far-right ideology may influence the character of everyday policing in Greece and the use of police discretion at the detriment of vulnerable or politically undesirable groups.

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Notes

  1. In October 2013, the leadership, including several MPs, and several other members of Golden Dawn were prosecuted by Greek judicial authorities on charges of forming and operating a criminal organisation (art.187 of the Greek Penal Code). The incident that prompted judicial action has been the murder of Pavlos Fyssas, a leftist musician and activist by a member of Golden Dawn allegedly acting as part of a hit squad operating under orders and guidance from the party’s local and national leadership. A discussion of the investigation and the details reaching the public domain would lie beyond the scope of this article. We are very confident that the effort of the prosecuting authorities and the leadership of the Hellenic Police to root out Golden Dawn support from various Hellenic Police units does not render our analysis outdated nor does it invalidate any of the questions we are raising here, particularly in light of the party’s resilience in subsequent elections.

  2. A reference to Greece’s economic and social meltdown since the imposition of the austerity programme would be imperative for understanding the complex dynamics that shaped the results of the 2012 elections. Anything more than a brief and selective reference would go well beyond the scope of this paper, but a number of more comprehensive accounts may now be found in the English language (Douzinas, 2013, Lynn, 2011, Manolopoulos, 2011; Mitsopoulos & Pelagidis, 2012; Pryce, 2012).

  3. Reportedly, attacking and even killing an individual of an ‘inferior’ race is an initiation ritual for Golden Dawn members [4]. Yet many in Greece are slow or unwilling to recognise the connection of such rituals with the dramatic increase of racist attacks, often in plain daylight [9].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Sciences, Business and Law, Teesside University, TS13BA, Middlesbrough, UK

    Georgios Papanicolaou

  2. Rhodes Project SCE, 21 Romanou Melodou, 85100, Rhodes, Greece

    Ioannis Papageorgiou

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  1. Georgios Papanicolaou
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  2. Ioannis Papageorgiou
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Correspondence to Georgios Papanicolaou.

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Papanicolaou, G., Papageorgiou, I. The police and the far right in Greece: a case study of police voting behaviour in Athens. Crime Law Soc Change 66, 397–419 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-016-9633-7

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