Third Hellenic Republic
Hellenic Republic | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974–present | |||||||
| Motto: "Eleftheria i thanatos" Ελευθερία ή θάνατος "Freedom or Death" | |||||||
| Anthem: «Ύμνος εις την Ελευθερίαν» Ýmnos eis tin Eleftherían "Hymn to Liberty" | |||||||
![Location of Third Hellenic Republic (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – [Legend]](/File:EU-Greece.svg) Location of Third Hellenic Republic (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) | |||||||
| Capital and largest city | Athens 37°58′N 23°43′E / 37.967°N 23.717°E | ||||||
| Official language and national language | Greek | ||||||
| Religion | Eastern Orthodoxy | ||||||
| Demonym(s) | Greeks, Hellenes | ||||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic | ||||||
| Katerina Sakellaropoulou | |||||||
| Kyriakos Mitsotakis | |||||||
| Konstantinos Tasoulas | |||||||
| Legislature | Hellenic Parliament | ||||||
| Establishment | |||||||
| History | |||||||
• Independence declared from the Ottoman Empire | 25 March 1821 (traditional starting date of the Greek War of Independence), 15 January 1822 (official declaration) | ||||||
| 3 February 1830 | |||||||
| 11 June 1975 | |||||||
• Established | 1974–present | ||||||
| Area | |||||||
• Total | 131,957 km2 (50,949 sq mi)[1] (95th) | ||||||
• Water (%) | 0.8669 | ||||||
| Population | |||||||
• 2017 estimate | 10,768,477 | ||||||
• 2011 census | 10,816,286[2] (80th) | ||||||
• Density | 82[3]/km2 (212.4/sq mi) (125th) | ||||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2019 estimate | ||||||
• Total | $326.700 billion[4] (57th) | ||||||
• Per capita | $30,522[4] (47th) | ||||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2019 estimate | ||||||
• Total | $224.033 billion[4] (52nd) | ||||||
• Per capita | $20,930[4] (38th) | ||||||
| Gini (2018) |  32.3[5]medium (60th) | ||||||
| HDI (2019) |  0.888[6]very high (32nd) | ||||||
| Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) | ||||||
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (Eastern European Time) | ||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (Eastern European Summer Time) | ||||||
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy (AD) | ||||||
| Driving side | right | ||||||
| Calling code | +30 | ||||||
| ISO 3166 code | GR | ||||||
| Internet TLD | .gra .ελ | ||||||
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The Third Hellenic Republic (Greek: Γ΄ Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, romanized: Triti Elliniki Dimokratia) is the period in modern Greek history that stretches from 1974, with the fall of the Greek military junta and the final confirmation of the abolishment of the Greek monarchy, to the present day.
It is considered the third period of republican rule in Greece, following the First Republic during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1832) and the Second Republic during the temporary abolition of the monarchy in 1924–1935.
The term "Metapolitefsi" (Μεταπολίτευση, 'polity change') is commonly used for the entire period, but when used more strictly, this term refers to the early part of the period, beginning with the fall of the junta and culminating in the democratic transformation of the country. While the First and Second Hellenic Republics are not in common use except in a historiographic context, the term Third Hellenic Republic is used frequently.[7][8]
The Third Hellenic Republic has been characterised by the development of social freedoms, the European orientation of Greece and the political dominance of the parties ND and PASOK, although PASOK has declined since the 2010s, being replaced by Syriza as the largest party of the left. The period has also been characterised by corruption, deterioration of certain economic indexes, especially public debt, and nepotism, mostly in the political scene and the state offices.[9][10][11]
Events
![[icon]](/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022) |
This period has been marked by many significant changes in the country. In 1981, Greece joined the EU. Simultaneously, the centre-left party PASOK won the election and changed the Greek political scenery. The decade of the 1990s saw the standard of living among Greeks steadily increase, a trend which reached its zenith around the time of the 2004 Summer Olympics to the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. On 1 January 2001, Greece voted to adopt the Euro, and the currency was introduced in the country one year later on 1 January 2002. In the last months of 2009, the Greek debt crisis broke out, an event that brought about great changes on both a social and political level. The COVID-19 pandemic caused more economic hardship for Greece.
Presidents of the Third Hellenic Republic
- Michail Stasinopoulos (1974–1975)
- Konstantinos Tsatsos (1975–1980)
- Konstantinos Karamanlis (1980–1985)
- Christos Sartzetakis (1985–1990)
- Konstantinos Karamanlis (1990–1995)
- Konstantinos Stephanopoulos (1995–2005)
- Karolos Papoulias (2005–2015)
- Prokopis Pavlopoulos (2015–2020)
- Katerina Sakellaropoulou (2020–present)
Political parties in Third Hellenic Republic
1974–1989
This period began with the centrists and centre-right being dominant, though the former lost support in the late 1970s with the rise of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement. Also the Communist Party of Greece was allowed to take part in elections for first time after the end of the Greek Civil War. The table below shows the results of elections during this period.
| Political position/ Ideology |
Political Party | 1974 Legislative Elections |
1977 Legislative Elections |
1981 Legislative Elections |
1981 European Elections |
1984 European Elections |
1985 Legislative Elections |
1989 European Elections |
1989 June Legislative Elections |
1989 Nov Legislative Elections | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |||
| Far-left | KKE | – | 9.36 | 10.93 | 12.84 | 11.64 | 9.89 | – | – | – | |
| KKE interior | – | – | 1.37 | 5.30 | 3.42 | 1.84 | – | – | – | ||
| Left-wing | United Left | 9.47 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| SPADE | – | 2.72 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| SYN | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14.31 | 13.13 | 10.97 | ||
| Centre-left | PASOK | 13.58 | 25.34 | 48.06 | 40.12 | 41.58 | 45.82 | 35.96 | 39.13 | 40.97 | |
| Ecologists | Alternative Ecologists | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1.11 | – | 0.58 | |
| Centre | Centre union | 20.42 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| EDIK | – | 11.95 | 0.40 | 1.12 | 0.28 | – | 0.28 | – | – | ||
| KODISO | – | – | 0.72 | 4.26 | 0.80 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Liberal Party | – | – | 0.37 | 1.04 | 0.35 | 0.17 | 0.40 | 0.10 | 0.08 | ||
| Christian Democracy | – | – | 0.15 | 1.12 | 0.45 | – | 0.41 | 0.20 | – | ||
| Liberals | New Liberals | – | 1.08 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Centre-right | New Democracy | 54.37 | 41.84 | 35.88 | 31.34 | 38.05 | 40.85 | 40.41 | 44.28 | 46.19 | |
| DIANA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1.36 | 1.01 | – | ||
| Right-wing | EDE | 1.08 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| National Alignment | – | 6.82 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Progressive Party | – | – | 1.69 | 1.96 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Far-right | EPEN | – | – | – | – | 2.29 | 0.60 | 1.16 | 0.30 | – |
1990–2007
This period began with the fall of communist regimes in eastern Europe. It is characterized by the reinforcement of bipartisanship with the two main parties (New Democracy and PASOK) regularly polling over 80% of the vote between them, even reaching 86%.
| Political position/ Ideology |
Political Party | 1990 Legislative Elections |
1993 Legislative Elections |
1994 European Elections |
1996 Legislative Elections |
1999 European Elections |
2000 Legislative Elections |
2004 Legislative Elections |
2004 European Elections |
2007 Legislative Elections | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |||
| Far-left | KKE | – | 4.54 | 6.29 | 5.61 | 8.67 | 5.52 | 5.90 | 9.48 | 8.15 | |
| Left-wing | SYN/SYRIZA | 10.28 | 2.94 | 6.25 | 5.12 | 5.16 | 3.20 | 3.26 | 4.16 | 5.04 | |
| Centre-left | PASOK | 38.61 | 46.88 | 37.64 | 41.49 | 32.91 | 43.79 | 40.55 | 34.03 | 38.10 | |
| DIKKI | – | – | – | 4.43 | 6.85 | 2.69 | 1.79 | – | – | ||
| Ecologists | Alternative Ecologists | 0.77 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Ecologist Greens | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0.67 | 1.05 | ||
| Centre | Union of Centrists | – | 0.23 | 1.19 | 0.70 | 0.82 | 0.34 | 0.26 | 0.56 | 0.29 | |
| Liberals | The Liberals | – | – | – | – | 1.62 | – | – | – | – | |
| Centre-right | New Democracy | 46.89 | 39.30 | 32.66 | 38.12 | 36.00 | 42.74 | 45.36 | 43.02 | 41.84 | |
| DIANA | 0.67 | – | 2.79 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Right-wing | Political Spring | – | 4.88 | 8.65 | 2.94 | 2.28 | – | – | – | – | |
| Far-right | EPEN | – | 0.14 | 0.78 | 0.24 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Golden Dawn | – | – | – | 0.11 | 0.07 | – | – | – | – | ||
| LAOS | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2.19 | 4.12 | 3.80 |
2009–2019
This period corresponds to Greek government-debt crisis, that changed dramatically the political stage. Early in the period, PASOK were able to capitalise on a loss of support for ND. However, by the early 2010s, PASOK were also attracting blame for their handling of the crisis, and the radical party SYRIZA became the largest party on the left. The position of the far-right was also strengthened in this period.
SYRIZA has since overtaken PASOK as the main party of the centre-left.[12]Alexis Tsipras led SYRIZA to victory in the general election held on 25 January 2015, falling short of an outright majority in Parliament by just two seats.[13] The following morning, Tsipras reached an agreement with Independent Greeks party to form a coalition, and he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece.[14] Tsipras called snap elections in August 2015, resigning from his post, which led to a month-long caretaker administration headed by judge Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, Greece's first female prime minister.[15] In the September 2015 general election, Alexis Tsipras led SYRIZA to another victory, winning 145 out of 300 seats [16] and re-forming the coalition with the Independent Greeks.[17] However, he was defeated in the July 2019 general election by Kyriakos Mitsotakis who leads New Democracy.[18] On 7 July 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Greece. He formed a centre-right government after the landslide victory of his New Democracy party.[19]
| Political position/ Ideology |
Political Party | 2009 European Elections |
2009 Legislative Elections |
2012 May Legislative Elections |
2012 June Legislative Elections |
2014 European Elections |
2015 Jan. Legislative Elections |
2015 Sept. Legislative Elections |
2019 European Elections |
2019 Legislative Elections | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |||
| Far-left | KKE | 8.35 | 7.54 | 8.48 | 4.50 | 6.11 | 5.47 | 5.55 | 5.33 | 5.30 | |
| ANTARSYA | 0.43 | 0.36 | 1.19 | 0.33 | 0.72 | 0.64 | 0.85 | 0.64 | 0.41 | ||
| Left wing | SYRIZA | 4.70 | 4.60 | 16.79 | 26.89 | 26.57 | 36.34 | 35.46 | 23.78 | 31.53 | |
| Popular Unity | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.86 | 0.56 | 0.23 | ||
| MeRA25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.99 | 3.44 | ||
| Course of Freedom | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.61 | 1.46 | ||
| Centre-left | PASOK / (MC, OT, DC) | 36.64 | 43.92 | 13.18 | 12.28 | 8.02 | 4.68 | 6.28 | 7.72 | 8.10 | |
| Democratic Left | — | — | 6.11 | 6.25 | 1.20 | 0.49 | — | — | — | ||
| Social Agreement | — | — | 0.96 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| The River | — | — | — | — | 6.60 | 6.05 | 4.09 | 1.51 | — | ||
| KIDISO | — | — | — | — | — | 2.46 | — | — | — | ||
| Ecologist | Ecologist Greens | 3.49 | 2.53 | 2.93 | 0.88 | 0.90 | — | — | 0.87 | — | |
| Centre | Union of Centrists | 0.38 | 0.27 | 0.61 | 0.28 | 0.65 | 1.79 | 3.43 | 1.45 | 1.24 | |
| Teleia | — | — | — | — | — | 1.77 | — | — | — | ||
| Liberal | Drassi | 0.76 | — | 1.80 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Recreate Greece | — | — | 2.15 | — | — | — | 0.53 | 0.69 | 0.74 | ||
| Democratic Alliance | — | — | 2.55 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Drassi/Recreate Greece | — | — | — | 1.59 | 0.91 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Greek European Citizens | — | — | — | — | 1.40 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Centre-right | New Democracy | 32.29 | 33.48 | 18.85 | 29.66 | 22.72 | 27.81 | 28.10 | 33.13 | 39.85 | |
| Right wing | PAMME | 1.27 | – | – | – | – | – | — | — | — | |
| Independent Greeks | — | — | 10.62 | 7.51 | 3.46 | 4.75 | 3.69 | 0.80 | — | ||
| UFP | — | — | — | — | 1.04 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Far Right | LAOS | 7.14 | 5.63 | 2.89 | 1.58 | 2.69 | 1.03 | — | 1.23 | — | |
| Golden Dawn | 0.46 | 0.29 | 6.97 | 6.92 | 9.39 | 6.28 | 6.99 | 4.88 | 2.93 | ||
| Greek Solution | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4.18 | 3.70 |
2020s
In March 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate, Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou, as the first female President of Greece.[20]
In June 2023, conservative New Democracy party won the legislative election, meaning another four-year term as prime minister for Kyriakos Mitsotakis.[21]
Notes
References
- ^ "Country Comparison: Area". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on October 25, 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ Απογραφή Πληθυσμού – Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός [Results of Population-Housing Census 2011 concerning the permanent population of the country] (PDF) (in Greek). 20 March 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- ^ "Announcement of the results of the 2011 Population Census for the Resident Population" (PDF). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 28 December 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF. 20 October 2018.
- ^ "INCOME INEQUALITY 2018 Survey on Income and Living Conditions (Income reference period 2017)". Piraeus: Hellenic Statistical Authority. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
- ^ "Table 2. Human Development Index Trends, 1990-2017". Human Development Reports. New York: United Nations Development Programme. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- ^ Ιορδάνογλου, Χρυσάφης Ι. (2002). Γερνώντας μαζί με την τρίτη ελληνική δημοκρατία. Εκδόσεις Παρατηρητής. ISBN 960-374-232-5.
- ^ Μαυρογένης, Γιώργος (2008). Πολιτική Επικοινωνία & ΜΜΕ (Κεφάλαιο 17: Πολιτική Επικοινωνία στην Τρίτη Ελληνική Δημοκρατία). Εκδόσεις Σταμούλη. ISBN 9789603517566.
- ^ "H ποιότητα στην Γ΄ Ελληνική Δημοκρατία". kathimerini.gr. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ^ "Η Μεταπολίτευση, μία σύντομη αποτίμηση". kathimerini.gr. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ^ "Τρίτη Ελληνική Δημοκρατία. Του Γ. Ρωμαίου". tvxs.gr. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ^ Katsourides, Yiannos (22 September 2016). Radical Left Parties in Government: The Cases of SYRIZA and AKEL. Springer. ISBN 9781137588418.
- ^ "Greece election: Anti-austerity Syriza wins election". BBC News. 26 January 2015.
- ^ Tran, Mark (26 January 2015). "Alexis Tsipras sworn in as new Greek prime minister – as it happened". The Guardian.
- ^ "Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou became Greece's first female Prime Minister | Economy Watch".
- ^ "Greece election: Alexis Tsipras hails 'victory of the people'". BBC News. 21 September 2015.
- ^ "Greek Finance Minister Tsakalotos takes key role in Tsipras' new cabinet | DW | 23.09.2015". Deutsche Welle.
- ^ "Greek elections: Landslide victory for centre-right New Democracy party". TheGuardian.com. 7 July 2019.
- ^ "New era as Mitsotakis is sworn in as Greece's new PM".
- ^ "Greece swears in first female president".
- ^ "New Democracy party wins landslide victory in Greek elections". www.aljazeera.com.