Search results

Greece had to undertake several reforms under intense policy conditionality pressures – stemming from the three financial support programs agreed between the Greek Government and the Troika – and political instability. Within this context, this study aims to analyze the role of politicians and technical assistance staff in the administrative reform of the Greek state budget.

The study adopts the approach of an extreme country-case study which is analyzed through a theoretical framework with insights from the resource dependency theory and the concept of policy conditionality. The theoretical framework is supported by documents of the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, including the technical Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and their progress reports and is informed by the outcome of interviews with General Accounting Office executives.

While the budget reform eventually met the MoU requirements, the frequent changes at the government level, the constant renegotiations with the Troika that initiated changes to the plan and the instability of the technical assistance teams formed to support the reform contributed to important implementation delays.

The study contributes to the research agenda on accounting reforms during periods of financial crises by providing evidence on the role of politicians’ level of ownership and technical assistance staff contribution.

The ‘symbiotic’ relationship between media and politics has multiple effects on the way political elites act and behave. However, only limited attention has been given on the impact of contemporary media in the emerging, recruitment and composition of the political elites. Drawing heavily on the various approaches of social, political and media capital, this chapter paper seeks to explore the main profiles and paths of the politicians having practised media-related professions, during the last 30 years in Greece. For the scopes of our research we will take advantage of two related databases offering quantitative data. Our analysis demonstrates that media have a considerable impact in political selection procedure given the fact that elected candidates with a media background have increased considerably during the last years, their candidacies are mainly addressed to wide electorates, while media constitutes an important path for the elections in political elites' positions.

Drawing on the theoretical framework of Grabe and Bucy (2009), this chapter presents the findings of an exploratory study concerning the visual self-presentation strategies that the political leaders of the two main political parties in Greece (Syriza and New Democracy) employed in their political adverts on YouTube during the campaign for the 2019 European Parliamentary elections. The findings illustrate that, despite the fact that both leaders made equal use of the two master frames, of the ideal candidate and the populist campaigner, their visual strategies differed in the emphasis given to the various subdimensions of the visual framework. Both leaders attempted to project a public persona characterised by ordinariness and professionalism. Tsipras used a series of spots through which he sought to both ‘renew’ his relationship with the electorate and reinforce perceptions of his statesmanship as a widely respected political leader. Mitsotakis' visual strategy was primarily based on building a more relatable image and strengthening his leadership profile, as well as the frequent use of patriotic symbols.

The introduction of new communicative ethics in political communication has imposed new procedures and values in politics. The close interrelation of media and politics has many facets and effects on the way politics is exercised and on how it is perceived by the citizens. This chapter investigates how new methods of political communication have been introduced and internalised in Greek politics. By taking into account critical political events and in particular elections and relevant studies, the ‘Greek media democracy’ is divided into six periods covering a time span from 1981 to the present. The division and analysis underline the milestones and transition paths in Greek politics towards new communicative and political ethics. The rationale of our research is commensurate with many comparative studies which emphasise the importance of the context in the adaptation of the ‘Americanized’ political communication model. This chapter reflects how the specific sociopolitical context of the country has interfered, defined and shaped the adaptation of ‘imported’ methods in political communication and how these methods have resulted in significant changes and shifts in Greek media democracy and Greek politics in general.