JPI Spring 2018

Table 1 shows Greek government deficits and how they differ considerably from other Southern
European countries. Loizides and Kovras argue that the vicious cycle of constant competition
between the two major parties was at fault.
Referring back to the American example of budget imbalances and the data surrounding the
mitigation of imbalances by individual states, we see a similarity. The effect is not as severe within
American states as it is in Greece, perhaps because there are other states to (presumably) balance out
the total federal budget whereas the total population of Greece is affected by these extremely tightlined
elections. Regardless, the pattern of neglecting seemingly urgent financial vulnerabilities near
their respective election dates re-emerges in Greece as it did with the United States and Germany as
well. The institutionalization of electoral outbidding, coupled with the dominance of populism and
clientelistic networks, made the public sector an instrument of party politics. 23 According to the
OECD, Greece is the “OECD member with the highest share of its active workforce employed in
23
Iosif Kovras and Neophytos Loizides, “The Greek Debt Crisis and Southern Europe: Majoritarian Pitfalls?” Comparative Politics vol. 47, no. 1 (Jan.
2014): 1–20. doi:10.5129/001041514813623164.
JPI Fall 2017, pg. 37