From centralism to decentralization and back to recentralization due to the economic crisis: Findings and lessons learnt from the Greek experience

Abstract

Greece, a unitary state with a long tradition of centralism, followed in the last decades, due to the European integration a process of administrative decentralization to modernize public administration and strengthen citizens’ participation. Economic and financial crisis has mostly affected the decentralization process, meaning that in a realm of weak public institutions dealing with social fragmentation and political polarization, recentralization seemed to be the only path to cope with disintegration trends. This is a major outcome from the Greek experience. The crisis-related rigid austerity measures and policies imposed since 2010 brought the long-lasting “decentralization process” to a crucial turning point. Even if centralist patterns offer efficient implementation of austerity measures, can this new centralism be sustainable in the long run or opposing forces of territorial cohesion will finally prevail?.