Abstract
What explains the failure of reforms in Greece’s populist democracy? Through a, necessarily concise, examination of attempts to improve such crucial policy areas as health, pensions, and education, it is shown that reforms failed because the majority of Greek society typically stood against them. Such a strong resistance to reform is further explained by society’s high aversion to losing benefits already received (or expected) through patronage exchanges. The logic of reform resistance is sufficiently illustrated by the foundering attempts to improve Greece’s tax system.
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© 2014 Takis S. Pappas
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Pappas, T.S. (2014). Why Reforms Failed?. In: Populism and Crisis Politics in Greece. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137410580_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137410580_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-48901-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-41058-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political Science CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)