From Municipal Socialism to the Sovereign Debt Crisis: Local Services in Greece 1980–2015

Abstract

The Greek central state, historically, has adopted an overcautious approach to local administration, until the 1980s when, under the socialist governments, the responsibilities and resources of Greek local governments were significantly expanded. The enlargement of local powers was extensively associated with corporatisation, partly under the influence of European policies promoting the principles of competition. Various forms of municipal companies were used to provide local services and to implement social programs. Greek municipal corporatisation, however, cannot be associated with the NPM momentum that dominated Europe over the same period. Municipal companies remained under public ownership while business-like flexibility was used chiefly for clientelist purposes. Since the mid-1990s, the ‘clientelistic and corporatised municipal socialism’ is gradually reversed, while currently sovereign debt crisis significantly limits local policy-making.