Greece: A Country of Paradoxes

Abstract

In the previous four chapters the reader can see that there are several contradictory views of trie past twenty-five years in trie history of Greece. Although there are many issues on which experts disagree, two of them stand out. First, there is disagreement over what behavior would be most appropriate on any given policy for a country like Greece since it became a member of the European Union. Second, and more importantly, there is disagreement on the evaluation of the outcomes over the past twenty-five years; for instance, while some recognize a somewhat successful modernization in the past decade others see a complete failure.¹ On the successful side are experts of the political system of Greece who argue that democratization has been a successful venture not only in Greece but throughout South Europe. Those who evaluate present-day policies and the conduct of the Greek civil society are more cautious about heaping praise on Greece’s democratization, while liberal economists and some leftists are highly critical and pessimistic about Greece’s future. This categorization, albeit spurious and ill defined, shows that there is disagreement on how to understand the recent political and economic developments in Greece.