Intermediate democracy
Efforts made by the Greek government to develop a new version of operational democracy seem to be heading for disaster.
The establishment of a type of rhetoric for the local audience is becoming increasingly evident. Meanwhile, the coalition appears unable to show any initiative when it comes to the international front.
The control of the local mass media is one area of the government’s strategic planning and this project is moving along, complemented by an attempt to fanaticize a portion of Greek public opinion.
Historically speaking, any attempt to control information draws its legitimacy from “popular will” as a need for “justice” and the “fight against corruption.”
In this case, the coalition government is presenting a will for “order” in the TV landscape as a major choice, and is inviting the public to interpret its actions as a victory for democracy.
The point is, however, that the kind of democracy the government is fantasizing about has no relation to the meaning of democracy in other eurozone countries.
The administration’s intention to control independent authorities, undermine the operations of private schools, tolerate subcultures such as the “No Border” movement, carry out selective tax inspections and nurture a climate of pseudo-intimidation is this summer’s aftertaste.
Nevertheless, beyond hardcore SYRIZA supporters, the administration’s amateurish moves can no longer deceive citizens the way they did last summer.
Of course even if the government’s well-structured populism draws disdain from its ideological opponents, it still manages to rally all those who grew up with the idea of a nonstop “anti-systemic” conflict. It’s second nature to them.
However, the exposure of the revolutionary talk that we experienced last year is leading to the government's retreat, leaving it with a strictly narrow, partisan audience.
Besides, the big picture has to do with the daily lives of Greeks, an area where the government has failed spectacularly and where none of its supporters can come up with any arguments in its defense.
Acrobatics aimed at an “intermediary” democracy a la SYRIZA will sooner or later collapse, as more and more citizens realize that what matters most is that business manages to find its feet again.
In this area, the government is incapable of making any convincing proposals.
