Greece is a democratic state. That is not to say that it’s a perfect or pure democracy, but when determining whether it is more democratic or authoritarian, the answer is rather clear.
According to democracyrating.org, a site which compiles several factors such as political rights, civil liberties, press freedom, corruption rating, and several other important considerations,
Greece in 2015 was ranked the 41st most democratic nation in the world. [1] For the sake of comparison, the United States was 16th. Freedom House gives it a similar ranking. [2]
When considering democracy in Greece, it is interesting to note that ancient Athens was the birthplace of democracy. The word democracy is greek for “power of the people”. [3] Though the inventor
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Through the later half of the century there was a certain level of democracy in the country which fluctuated under different leaders, but it wasn’t until 1974 when the monarchy was abolished that the democracy of Greece was fully restored. [4] In 1975 the country approved a new constitution, bringing additional stability to its democracy. [5]
As was laid out in the new Greek constitution, the government of Greece is officially a parliamentary democracy, led by presidential rule, and is based on popular sovereignty. It also granted many individual civil liberties to its people. Like the US, Greece has an executive, legislative, and judicial branch in its government. The executive branch has a president and a prime minister. The president is elected by a ⅗ approval vote by parliament, and can serve for up to two five-year terms, while the prime minister is elected by the people and holds the most
power in the Greek government. The legislative branch in Greece is run by a parliament consisting of 300 members, 288 of which are elected by the people. [6]
Some have argued that a parliamentary democracy is not the best type of government for Greece, which is understandable. Since implementing the new constitution, Greece