Greece and the European Union in the 1990s: the challenge to the domestic state

For the last decade or more, domestic political debate in Greece has focussed on the nature and role of the state. The debate has raised questions about the extent of the state's role in the domestic economy, and the state's domination of civil society. New liberal economic philosophy has pressed for greater market freedoms, on the one hand, whilst separate criticism has been made of the corruption and inefficiency of the ‘party-state’. On both fronts — political and economic — the domestic role of the state has appeared to be under more serious challenge than for many years perviously (Featherstone, 1994).