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Right-Wing Populism and Extremism: The Rapid Rise of “Golden Dawn” in Crisis-Ridden Greece Vassiliki Georgiadou
Introduction: the “new normal” as persistent crisis Greece, a parliamentary democracy since 1974 and a full member of the European Community since 1981, has long been regarded as an anchor of the status quo by the international community. This impression of Greek politics took root between 1996 and 2004, when the country’s leaders seemed committed to the “new social democracy” then in vogue elsewhere in Europe. During the new social democrats’ tenure in office under the leadership of Prime Minister Kostas Simitis (PASOK), the government embarked on a “third way” intended to modernize and Europeanize the country (Georgiadou 2002: 597 – 602). Greece became the twelfth member of the European Economic and Monetary Union despite the numerous obstacles that stood in its way. Its accession to the euro zone confirmed the European orientation of the Third Hellenic Republic, which was established after the collapse of the military dictatorship in 1974. It likewise signaled that Greece had undergone a “regime change” [in Greek: Μεταπολίτευση (Metapolitefsi)] characterized by the abolition of the monarchy and the reinstitution of democratic rule (Voulgaris 2001). The Europeanization of Greece went hand in hand with the development of parliamentary democracy during the late phase of the Third Republic’s history that began when the country entered the euro zone. Starting in the 1990s, the hallmark of Greek politics was a tendency toward moderation and convergence. That tendency was evident on several fronts: the previous ideological polarization of the parties declined; the governing parties drifted towards the center of the political ideological
RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM IN EUROPE
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