Two-party system
Everything seems to suggest that the prevalence of the two-party system in Greece is mostly a product of voter distrust of the smaller political parties – an attitude which stems from these parties’ basic positions on the country’s economic and foreign policy. More specifically, it’s no coincidence that Greeks remain essentially pro-European and refuse to connect their current financial difficulties, and the ensuing social disaffection, to Greece’s EU membership like most of their fellow Europeans do. Rather, most of us tend to focus on the political benefits of EU membership, always in conjunction with the Turkish threat and the alarming volatility in the Balkan peninsula. To the degree that Greek citizens view EU membership and European integration in a more favorable light that any other Europeans, it’s no surprise that they pay less attention to the administrative performance of local parties. The public thinks that the ruling party is confined to a mere caretaker role while the fundamental and unequivocal political decisions are taken in Brussels… The fact that there has been no strong showing by protest parties in Greece is, most probably, due to the same reasons. Therefore, there is deep public distrust of coalition governments which are, in fact, more suitable when there is a need to synthesize different government proposals and programs. This, of course, does not apply today or, at least, it’s not seen as necessary by the electoral body…
